Immaculate Wanyenze &Moses Amwiine
Following intelligence reports of Busia taxi park as a smuggling hub, the URA team launched an operation to expose the smugglers. They brought on board security and additional support from the area Resident Commissioner and Member of Parliament to ease the operation. Within 30 minutes, rice and wheat flour were intercepted in these quantities;12 bags of Sana parboil rice, 12 bags of La Famille biryani rice,22 bags of baraf biryani rice,12 bags of MOL rice and 13 cartons of Pembe rice.
“The smugglers at the taxi park had made it a habit to ferry wheat and rice on motorcycles and bicycles,effectively channeling it to nearby cities of Jinja, Mbale and Kampala,” Moses Amwiine, a Customs officer in Busia narrated.
A similar operation was done in Namungodi and Lumino villages, and rice was discovered. The following were the interceptions
08 bags x 25kg of Kangore long grain rice, C.O.O: Pakistan.
06 bags x 25Kg of Mol biryani rice, C.O.O: Pakistan.
12 bags x 25Kg of Mahira supreme rice, C.O.O: Pakistan.
31 Bags X 25Kg of Indus Gold biryani rice, C.O.O: Pakistan.
85 Bags X 05 Kg of Hillal extra-long grain, Sella Basmati rice, C.O.O: India.
Currently, offence management is ongoing and suspects will be penalized in accordance to the East African Community Customs Management Act(EACCMA).
The general public is encouraged to continue reporting to URA all suspicious trade practices in their areas to enable URA create a level trading ground for all legitimate traders.
