They are always prepared to escalate confrontational situations by doggedly standing their ground which in most cases spills into violence. This is the character of the Aringa people in Yumbe.
Many a times when they are confronted by the URA enforcement team over smuggled goods, they attack back with bows and arrows. They always frustrate URA operations in Yumbe.
However, on Wednesday the URA team beat their “intelligence” by working in the wee hours. This follows intel they received of a smuggler cartel which was running an illegal store of fuel and other smuggled merchandise in Yumbe town.
“Our informer was able to track and trail these economic saboteurs until he pinpointed at a concentration point which we cordoned off and quickly loaded the goods to our pickup truck,” Philip Ofubo, the URA team leader Customs Oraba narrated.
Upon verification at the Customs offices in Oraba, the team recovered 50 Jerry cans of 20 litters of petrol,5 jerry cans of 20 litters of cooking oil and 4 bags of 25 Kgs of rice. These had been smuggled from South Sudan.
According to Ofubo, the customs team in Oraba will continue making smuggling un attractive for the Aringas through surprise operations.
“Our team is committed to paralyze all forms of smuggling to the end so that the market is only accessed by tax compliant clients. This he believes, will be part of their contributions to the daily Customs target of UGX 45 billion.
URA therefore wishes to retaliate its commitment to fighting smuggling of all sorts and liberating Uganda from economic saboteurs engaging in illicit Trade. The general public is encouraged to report to URA all suspicious trade practices in their areas to enable URA create a level trading ground for all legitimate Traders.
Additional Reporting by Immaculate Wanyenze
