By Peter Sebyoto
URA has continued to invoke stringent measures on habitual smugglers including detaining them once proven guilty. Ellion Agumeneitwe yesterday joined the list of those URA is going to penalize for continued smuggling.
Agumeneitwe was caught on Monday for false declaration at Karuma. He claimed that he was transporting coffee to Kampala in his truck,UBM 182H.
Little did he know that URA ‘s tight intelligence network had seen otherwise. He was immediately flagged and his “coffee sacks” had to be checked further. On offloading, the URA officers on duty were shocked at how much smugglers have continued to hatch tricks to avoid the taxman.
How Agumeneitwe almost escaped . He used a coffee odor to disguise the cigarettes smell. Coffee contains nitrogen which helps to neutralize odors in the air quickly and safely and therefore it can serve as a natural air freshener that can quickly be used in absorbing unwanted odors. World over, drug dealers use coffee shipments as a cover to load to smuggled drugs. This way, Agumeneitwe would escape with his “coffee “un touched.
He underestimated the power of intelligence and was got with 46 cartons, 50 bombas, 10 packets,20 sticks of oris cigarettes(American blend). The sacks also had 53 cartons and 50 bombas, 10 packets, 20 sticks of supermatch cigarettes.
Currently, offence management is underway and these cigarettes will be destroyed to discourage illicit trade in Uganda.
