Smuggling: URA Impounds 2 Tons Of Rice in Jinja

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With the aim of stopping smuggling in the country, a team of enforcement officers from the customs department of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has impounded a Fuso truck in Jinja with over two tons of rice. This was apparently concealed under a pile of sugarcane.

However, Customs Officer Philip Ofubo explained that his team erected a checkpoint in Jinja last Wednesday night. This was due to increased smuggling in eastern Uganda during the festive season. He said the checkpoints are fruitful as they are impounding smuggled goods.

Ofubo told uncovered news reporters that “when we impounded the truck, we ordered the driver to drive to our base. Upon verification, we found 2,025 kg of Baraf and Sana rice, four bales of Kitenge fabric, seven and a half cartons of motor vehicle tire bonding gum, and 80 kg of used shoes.”.

“Last night at our checkpoint here at Jinja, we managed to impound M/V registration no. UBA 419G, a Fuso, which was seemingly conveying sugarcane,” Ofubo narrated in a statement released by URA on Thursday, December 28.

“But upon thorough checking, we discovered that the sugarcanes were a mere camouflage, as the actual goods being conveyed were beneath the sugarcanes.”

According to the statement, the URA enforcement team also arrested the smuggler, one Fred Mutebi. He confessed to buying the merchandise from Kenya and ferrying them on Boda Bodas to the Kakira sugar plantation. Ofubo said that the smuggler hired the Fuso truck to convey the merchandise to Lugazi for sale. He was unaware of the URA checkpoint along the route.

In conclusion, the URA Jinja enforcement team emphasized that they are committed to ensuring 100% deterrence of any form of smuggling.

written by @enock katamba

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