Recently, one Eritrean smuggler confidently drove a truck; registration number UBG 773Z through the scanner at Elegu. Reason: He had declared to customs that he was carrying only empty soda bottles in crates.
However, with the Non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology at the Elegu border, unequal patterns of different assorted items where seen in the truck.
It was later discovered that the driver had built compartments in the box body and in the truck chassis with concealed cigarettes and tinned sardines.
The details of the findings were;
1. 30 cartons of 50 bombas of Oris cigarettes
2. 10 cartons of 50 bombas of Shamlan King size filter cigarettes
3. 29 cartons of 125g of Sardines
4. 3 cartons x 400g of Nutella
These items including the conveying truck have been seized and the suspect sent to the URA intelligence for further interrogation.
Meanwhile, Non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology is now being used by Customs administrations around the world to increase the efficiency of their inspection capability, and speed up the clearance process. It consists of various technologies with different capabilities that are able to identify specific goods and materials during the inspection process. Among them are high-energy cargo scanning systems which allow the screening of different modes of transport such as cars, trucks, railway wagons and sea containers as well as personal luggage, packages, parcels and other mail through either X-ray or gamma-ray imaging systems.
For URA, Non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology has been deployed to give Customs officers the capability to perform thorough examinations of cargo without having to resort to the costly, time consuming process of unloading cargo for manual searches, or intrusive examinations of conveyances by methods such as drilling and dismantling conveyances.
Additional Reporting by Immaculate Wanyenze
