DUSHANBE, January 18, Asia-Plus -- Last year, Tajik customs officers revealed more than 3,500 cases of violation of customs requirements, Hokimsho Tilloyev, an official with the Ministry of State Revenues and Tax Collections (MSRTC), told journalists on January 18.  

Of them, 50 cases include customs crimes and the remaining 3,511 cases are administrative infringements, according to him.  

The MSRTC official speaking to journalists did not rule out that existence of corruption among officers of the country’s customs services.  “Mainly, we receive complaints against customs services of airports and railways,” Tilloyev said, adding that seven customs officers were detained last year for bribery.  “Of them four are officers of the customs control at the Dushanbe airport and criminal proceedings were instituted against them,” Tilloyev said.  

“To tell the truth we do not now how to combat corruption in these services,” said the MSRTC official, “We have installed special cameras at airports, and certain persons have been relieved of their posts, but the problem has so far remained unsolved.”

Last year, customs services revealed 23 cases of drug trafficking and seized more than 40 kilograms drugs, according to him.  “Joint operation by customs and services and other law enforcement agencies led to interception of some 118 kilogram of drugs, including 53 kilograms of heroin,” Hokimsho Tilloyev said.  

He also noted that 1,194 tax crimes were reported in the republic last year.  A damaged caused to the country’s economy by these crimes amounted to 14.8 million Somonis.  “Of them, 7.1 million Somonis were transferred to the national budget,” Tilloyev said.