Smugglers shift gadget trafficking route to Eldoret Airport, target Ethiopian market

A sophisticated smuggling cartel has shifted its operations to Eldoret International Airport, using Kenya as a transit corridor to illegally funnel high-end electronic gadgets into Ethiopia, investigations have revealed.

Officials familiar with the matter say more than 60 per cent of electronic goods—mainly mobile phones—imported through Eldoret Airport end up in Ethiopia through illegal channels. The consignments include over 600,000 high-end smartphones, among them iPhones and premium Samsung models, which are declared as transit cargo upon arrival in Kenya.

Instead of being flown directly to Ethiopia, the gadgets are transported by road through Nakuru, Nyeri, Marsabit and eventually to the Moyale border, where they are smuggled across, sources said. Authorities believe the route is deliberately chosen to exploit loopholes in customs clearance and border enforcement.

According to insiders, the goods attract as little as 10 per cent tax, resulting in massive revenue losses for the Kenyan government. There was no immediate comment from police or tax officials on the allegations.

“They cannot import directly through Addis Ababa because of the restrictions in place there. That is why they are using Kenya,” said a source who called for urgent investigations into gadget imports and exports through Kenyan entry points.

Cargo records illustrate the scale of the operation. On Monday, January 12, a flight arrived at Eldoret carrying 18 tonnes of goods, three tonnes of which were mobile phones. On Wednesday, January 14, another aircraft delivered 29 tonnes of smartphones, followed by three tonnes the next day. On Friday, a further 32 tonnes of mobile phones—valued at about Sh1 billion—were received.

The revelations come amid concerns that the government is losing up to Sh250 million weekly through a tax evasion racket operating at Eldoret International Airport. The scheme reportedly involves high-value mobile phones and alleged collusion between importers and rogue officials.

Following earlier exposes, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo chaired a series of meetings bringing together agencies such as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). A Multi-Agency Team and a Border Control Committee were formed to seal loopholes and curb revenue losses.

However, insiders say little has changed since the meetings held in October, warning that tax evasion remains rampant. Eldoret International Airport reportedly handles up to 12,000 metric tonnes of valuable imports annually, much of it allegedly passing through without proper taxation.

Authorities have previously intercepted consignments, including 21,600 smartphones worth more than Sh30 million from a single cargo plane in September. More undeclared shipments have since been flagged at the airport.

Investigators now estimate that the government loses up to Sh12 billion annually in unpaid taxes on high-end smartphones alone, while legitimate traders suffer unfair competition from black-market goods.

Although heightened scrutiny at Eldoret has temporarily slowed the cartel’s activities, insiders warn that similar operations are thriving at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi, the Port of Mombasa and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. There are also fears the syndicates may shift operations to neighbouring countries such as Tanzania and Somalia if enforcement tightens further.