With the San Pedro season in Huila, the production, marketing and consumption of counterfeit liquor increases considerably, for this reason the departmental authorities have been carrying out controls to deal with this problem.
Likewise, the institutions invite citizens and tourists to consume local liquor, which contributes to the health, education and sports sectors. Also, to have identity and support local producers.
In relation to this aspect, Sonia Mora, Secretary of the Treasury of Huila, stated: “taking into account ordinance 014 of 1997, which authorizes us to exclusively sell our liquor, which is the only one that can be marketed and sold. in the region. “Any liquor coming in from other departments is contraband liquor.”
“The drinks that come from other regions are illegal because they do not pay us the tax, and that is what we want to tell the citizens and the 37 mayors. We have to consume our own, because in this way the tariffs stay in the region,” the official stressed.
In addition, in order to raise awareness among the general population, it is important to remember that of the money raised from these taxes, 37% goes to health, 14% to educational infrastructure and 3% to sports.
Among the strategies they launched with the aim of supporting our country, there are the following campaigns: “Toast with legality, the taste of my land endures, to Sampedrear to the legal.”
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Millionaire losses
The Anti-Smuggling team has made 680 visits to commercial establishments dedicated to the sale of liquor throughout the Department.
“Among the results obtained in these operations, we managed to confiscate 472 bottles that entered the region without paying tax. No more cigarette smuggling, in 2023 we will stop receiving resources, in the order of $15 billion,” said the official.
He added that, “in Huila, in 2022, the percentage of smuggling was 18%, without ignoring that we received figures of 29% in the Department, so this challenge is great. Due to this fact, we have joined forces with all institutions in order to reduce this scourge.”
To carry out government projects, they rely on consumption taxes, cigarettes, liquor, and surcharges on gasoline and diesel fuel.
How to identify adulterated liquor?
Regarding liquors that do not pay the due taxes, “we confiscated 472 bottles of liquor and cigarettes. This indicator gives us reason to strengthen and safeguard the region’s income. And in terms of values, these seizures have a value of $50 million. Also, it is a call to the ‘horsemen’ to consume our liquor and not that of other regions,” said Sonia Mora.
Likewise, another aspect that citizens must take into account is the effects on health. Carlos Andrés Bahamon, from the Anti-Smuggling Group, gave some recommendations in order to identify liquor of dubious origin.
“There are three fundamental aspects to consider in order to recognize and identify an original bottle from an irregular one. First of all, when this product is turned over and placed upside down and backlit, it must not contain any ‘particulate’ material within the liquid, which in turn must be pure and without any kind of material,” the official emphasized.
Secondly, it is important to identify that the stamp has the physical characteristics of the bottle in writing.
“The barcode presents the same particularities of the product, its quantity and the degrees of alcohol. Something to highlight in the spirit is that, on the cap, the neck of the bottle and the neck cap, you must ensure that the nomenclature and its figures coincide perfectly, without any intervention. Finally, so that citizens take it into account, when opening the lid, the safety ring must be opened in two equal parts, it cannot be left whole, as happens with other liquors,” revealed Andrés Bahamon.
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Huila affected by illegal trade
For her part, María Fernanda Guevara, Territorial advisor of the National Federation of Departments, said: “the Huila region has been affected by the smuggling of liquor and cigarettes and in 2023, this problem rose to 29%, highly damaging the finances of the Department.
“If the resources generated by smuggling had entered, they would have been invested in sports venues and educational infrastructure and something that worries us is the damage to the health of citizens,” said the official.
According to Fernanda, when adulterated liquor is consumed, people put their lives and health at risk and can have serious consequences, such as vision problems.
Spirits that arrive in Colombia
“At the request of the 32 governors, our Executive Director, Didier Tavera, is in the process of commissioning a study to measure the rate of liquor smuggling at the national level and in each of the departments. We are currently analyzing the issue of cigarettes, where the national average is 30% and enters through Paraguay and comes from China,” explained the advisor.
The official also revealed a revealing fact. “And an even bigger scourge is coming because the big drug traffickers have joined forces and made an alliance with the smugglers and are exchanging ‘drugs’ for fraudulent merchandise,” revealed the advisor.
The official said that smugglers do not remain ‘still’, because just as institutions design strategies and plans to counteract illegality, they do the same to move their merchandise.
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The signing of the document
And last April, the governor of Huila, Rodrigo Villalba, said: “We are going to structure a plan for coexistence and security, in which we are going to include the issue of legality and the fight against smuggling. This strategy that we are defining. This pact that we are going to sign is not a ‘dead letter’. It has to have a border strategy and the institutions are working in a coordinated manner for this objective.”
And in order to counteract the problem of illegal merchandise, a plan will be made and the territorial entities with this problem that affects the Department’s income will be visited.
Among the municipalities that will be prioritized are: Neiva, Gigante, Garzón, El Pital and Agrado.
In this agreement that was signed for $1,642 million, entities such as the Police, Dian, Government of Huila, National Federation of Municipalities, Chamber of Commerce, Lottery of Huila, Army and Prosecutor’s Office will participate.
Finally, smuggled merchandise enters Huila through the municipality of Planadas, Tolima and through La Plata; products from Cauca are entering. Foreign cigarettes arrive through the department of Putumayo.
