Since the occurrence of the economic whammy that racked many African countries in general and Cameroon in particular, the phenomenon of informal trade became a quotidian practice. From the mid-1980s, Cameroonians as individuals and as families were highly involved in informal trade to ameliorate their livelihoods. This saw the slow but steady growth of the informal trade in petroleum products (fuel) obtained from Nigeria. At least six (6) of Cameroon’s ten (10) regions became sales-outlets for this product. These included the North West, South West, Littoral, Adamawa, North and Far North Regions. In spite of the underlying factors that favored the growth of this activity, the government passed numerous Texts, Laws, Circulars, Decrees and Orders both as pre-emptive and reactive measures to regulate the organization of the activity. Nonetheless, the sale of petrol along major streets in Cameroon continues to burgeon with far-reaching attendant illicit practices. This has engendered the desire to engage a research to interrogate the effectiveness of government regulation in petrol trade sector in Cameroon. From this background, this paper attempts an inquest into the phenomenon of expansion and illicit practices in informal petrol trading activity amidst government regulatory efforts. The paper argues that the growth and excesses in the informal petrol trade in Cameroon has been a result of the non-implementation of official texts in the sector. It further suggests the need to enforce existing texts and bring sanity in a sector in which practices have exposed the populace to great dangers of fire disasters, health issues and even loss of revenue by government.