Algeria Tightens Control On International Flights Over Hard Currency Trafficking

Algeria customs’ services foiled, on Friday, in coordination with the border police at Algiers international airport, Houari Boumediene, an attempt to smuggle more than 120.000 euros, while tightening control on all flights to Qatar, Turkey and the UAE after it became the preferred destination for currency trafficking.

Details of the operation, according to Echorouk sources, back to confirmed information which the customs authorities received about the smuggling of a substantial amount of hard currency through the flight from Algiers to Doha Airport in Qatar, security services exploited the information in coordination with the border police, foiled the operation and seized a sum of more than 120.000 euros.

This process is added to the operations that were carried out by the same services during the past few days, as was the case recently by the customs departments of Algiers airport, where they managed to thwart an attempt to smuggle approximately 150,000 euros, that were hidden by three men and a woman in their clothing, they were arrested at the airport where they were heading to Turkey and Dubai, while the border police service service at Houari Boumedienne International Airport seized a sum of 22,000 euros, which was destined for smuggling into Turkey.

In contrast, a report that was prepared by Algiers Regional Directorate of Foreign Customs, showed foiled attempts to smuggle hard currency through the international airport of Houari Boumediene by about 800.000 euros annually, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency to tighten control on smugglers of hard currency.

In this context, the source confirmed that their services at the level of Houari Boumediene airport have developed a joint mechanism with the services of the border police to tighten control of some flights that are coming from Arab and European countries, after the discovery of smuggling of hard currency, as the new mechanism, according to the same source, includes tightening control on a group of international lines, such as Turkey, France, Spain, Tunisia, Dubai and Qatar, after it became clear that the cells of smuggling foreign currency have been resorting to flights for the success of their trafficking, after being tightened at the border level by the Algerian border police and customs.