The Customs, Excise and Prevention Service (CEPS) in conjunction with National Security and other regulatory bodies, have intercepted 3 containers full of Turkey-tails at the port, after directives by the bodies and the food and drugs board (FDB) to ban the product.
Speaking in an interview, Mr. Emanuel Yaw Kwarteng, Head of Import and Export Control Department at the FDB, said investigations have been going on for the past four days to gather enough evidence for the prosecution of the persons who imported the product. He said on February 8 this year, the FDB in conjunction with the National Security and CEPS, detained a container of frozen chicken at Kaneshie which contained 1,970 cartons of turkey tails.
Again on February 9, the authorities impounded a container that contained 2,095 cartons of turkey tails concealed among 692 cartons of chicken backs. The said chicken backs were allowed by law to be imported but the illegal turkey tails were hidden under the chick back boxes. He said the appropriate bodies have therefore been working on the containers for the past 4 days.
The importer labeled the consignment as chicken backs so it was very difficult to reach the turkey tails. �Once we have it now, there is now way it will go to the public�, he added. However he told Joy FM that within two to three days investigation will be concluded. We will eventually hand them over to the police to handle that.
There are fines and sanctions for smuggling.
Nowhere on the documents covering the consignment was it stated that it contained turkey tails�, he said. According to the FDB, there were serious health implications associated with the product and it has therefore advised the consuming public to desist from patronizing turkey tails. �It is just a fat gland that comes from the turkey after dressing. Immediately the tail is off�, he stated.
The turkey contains saturated fat and this fat will harden blood vessels and block them because of the cholesterol content. If one is not lucky and a vital blood vessel supplying the heart is blocked, one would have heart attack,� he explained.
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