La Paz, Bolivia – The amount of smuggling in Bolivia exceeded $3.3 billion in 2022, with a growth rate that has doubled that of the country’s economy. The business sector warns that this crime is a growing threat to some 39,000 industries and at least 600,000 jobs, in a country where informality is around 86%.
First modification:
3 min
Smuggling in Bolivia is worth more than 3.3 billion dollars annually, almost 8% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), despite the interdiction work and seizures carried out by Customs and a command of the Armed Forces. in the five Bolivian borders.
“Smuggling is definitely leading us to a slow suffocation. It is a cancer for our industries,” stated the president of the National Chamber of Industries (CNI), Pablo Camacho.
The CNI established that in 2022 smuggling reached 3,331 million dollarstriple the 1,000 million calculated in 1999.
Meanwhile, according to the source, everything seized in 2022 totals close to $100 million, just 3% of the value of the contraband.
The blow to the private sector is so strong that 39,000 industries and 600,000 factory jobs are at risk, according to Camacho.
In addition, the tax obligations evaded in 2022 are equivalent to 930 million dollars, resources that would be used to build 16 hospitals, he added.
According to the industrialist, while Bolivia’s economy grew by 4% in 2022 compared to 2021, smuggling grew by 8%.
In addition, the businessman highlighted that smuggling is a danger for the Luis Arce Government’s industrial plant construction plan, with which it seeks to reactivate the economy.
“The Government is creating more than 130 industries. The question is can it sell? Not because we wish the Government bad luck, but because smuggling will also affect those industries,” he warned.
Although statistics indicate that around 86% of Bolivians live in economic informality and consume contraband due to its low prices, for businessmen, smuggling has to do with the functioning of criminal organizations and not so much with survival strategies.
Since 2020, seven soldiers have died in the fight against smuggling
On the five borders of Bolivia, the Strategic Operational Command to Fight Contraband (CEOLCC), of the Armed Forces, carries out around 80 daily patrol operations and seizure of merchandise that enters the country through illegal passages.
Near the border with Peru and the Desaguadero international river, which France 24 visited, the Communications captain, Miguel Zambrana, affirms that the operations are 70 to 80 a day and are carried out along the entire border line of the country, which borders with Argentina , Brazil, Chile, Peru and Paraguay.
On the border with Peru, for example, the military destroyed a clandestine route, called “scavenger,” built by smugglers to quickly unload merchandise from Lake Titicaca.
The soldier points out that there are smuggling organizations that handle technological resources of another level and weapons, as has been seen in the confrontations with the Armed Forces.
In these armed clashes with smugglers, six soldiers have died since 2020 and one in a traffic accident during an operation. Meanwhile, a civilian linked to smuggling died this year in a confrontation.
According to Zambrana, so far in 2023, the command has seized merchandise valued at about $4.8 million.
In addition, Customs, the command and other State institutions carry out campaigns to “raise awareness” among people about the issue.
“We are making people aware that smuggling is a crime that affects the economy and that affects not only one sector, but all of Bolivia and the future of our children,” said the soldier.
#Smuggling #slowly #suffocates #Bolivias #industry