Garoua: New Customs commander tasked to combat smuggling networks.

He was installed alongside his deputy, Hamidou Yonki. The ceremony was held on Friday, September 11.

The ceremony was presided over by Quentin Achille Dima, representative of the Director General of Customs. 

He was accompanied by the Head of the Customs Sector of the North, Raymond Touagaï, who tasked the newly installed to intensify the fight along the various corridors.

Speaking during the ceremony, Raymond Touagaï outlined the operational priorities of the new team, structured around what he described as the “3 M” approach: increased mobility, flawless responsiveness and rigorous professionalism.

He explained that the mobility component calls for customs officials to move beyond static positions and intensify patrols along clandestine tracks, border routes and strategic infiltration points. 

Responsiveness, meanwhile, is expected to ensure rapid intervention whenever security or logistical alerts are reported, allowing officers to disrupt trafficking activities before they expand.

At the level of professionalism, he called on them to remain focus on the strategy. According to Raymond Touagaï, customs officers are expected to combine firm enforcement with republican ethics, while facilitating legitimate commercial transactions and curbing the informal criminal economy.

He stated that the HALCOMI III Sector operates in a sensitive area where documentary fraud, counterfeit products, prohibited goods and other illicit activities pose a threat to both public revenue and economic security as such there is need to remain vigilant and think ahead of defaulters.

Raymond Touagaï stated that the reinforced deployment is therefore not only aimed at protecting the state’s fiscal interests but also intended to safeguard legitimate businesses from unfair competition created by clandestine trade.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3912 of Thursday September 17, 2026