Recently, the customs team in Kakuto received intel about a smuggler who had cleared a store to make it his new consolidation point in Bigada village, Rakai district. A team was immediately deployed to start monitoring the store located near Kakuto market.
In the middle of the night, the smuggler was seen ferrying goods using
Boda-bodas into the store. He had even planned other means to have them transported that night to another destination.
Unfortunately, this was not possible because his store had already been surrounded.
“We moved in swiftly to his store and forced him to open it. We got in, picked the goods and loaded them onto our pickup and proceeded to our station,” Moses Ankunda narrated.
Upon verification, 130 rolls of polyester plain and stretchy fabric materials were discovered. These are still pending offence management which includes paying the pending tax or forfeiting the goods.
For outright smuggling like this particular case, the smuggler took off and left all their goods behind, and means of conveyance. These are referred to as abandoned goods. If they are not claimed within 30 days they are destroyed or auctioned.
Although, outright smuggling is still a key offence, URA is not giving up on strategies to curb the vice especially using intelligence networks, coordinating with other government agencies, information sharing with key stakeholders, and enhancing the technical capacity of its staff.
URA is also intensifying tax education awareness, especially on the dangers of smuggling to the individual, the community, and the economy.
Additional Reporting by Immaculate Wanyenze
