ALEXANDRIA - Police in the coastal city of Alexandria yesterday pushed on with their crackdown on crime rings, which tried to smuggle a consignment of China-made fireworks, security sources said Wednesday. The latest move is part of a major sweep launched following orders by the Minister of Interior Mansour el-Essawi, who wanted the police to continue with their raids against the importers of fireworks, and seize their illegal and harmful goods, the sources said. They said that an importer, whose name was not disclosed, had tried to disguise the fireworks shipment as parcels of computer spare parts that were to be exported to Egypt from China with fake authorisation, the sources added. Police said that cartoons of 8,456 pieces of fireworks - the largest haul in several months in Alexandria- have been seized from a container ship coming from China via the United Arab Emirates (UAE), they said. The importer was arrested after officers, acting on a tip-off, searched the ship after it docked in Alexandria The fireworks were found in boxes containing computer spares, the sources said. Each year, Egyptians waste LE219 million ($39 million) on ground fireworks, which the Government hasned ban their import and sales to children. Officials have declared these fireworks to be dangerous because they produce a practical effect by explosion that can be harmful to the users or by standers. The Government has approved a law that incriminates the import, delivery, distribution or selling of dangerous fireworks. But, it is lamented that the law is ignored and rarely applied.
