By Annet Nantongo
URA enforcement officers in Elegu were treated to comic antiques by a smuggler in Alinyapi using hidden pathways along River Onyama, a racket of youths had resorted to transporting their loot across the water body for trading in the Ugandan territory.
As is with most water bodies in the East African region, the river’s water levels have risen recently, the enforcement team had abandoned monitoring the route only to return to a group of young men completely stripped as they sail through with Jerrycans of cooking oil, rice, soap, sugar among other items. The youth use ropes that they tie across and pull jerrycans and other items that are well covered to avoid penetration of water.
On Tuesday this week, the enforcement operation intercepted a middle-aged man smuggling jerrycans of cooking oil and assorted food items at Alinyapi. Upon being intercepted, the man threw himself to the ground and pretended to be dead. With great concern, the enforcement team immediately conveyed the “purported dead body” on a three-wheeler motorcycle commonly called the tuk-tuk to Alinyapi HCII where the medical workers declared him alive and kicking.
This operation recovered eight motorcycles used in the conveyance of smuggled goods, 1,340 liters of Dynas cooking oil, 1,000 liters of petrol, 500 pieces of soap, 125kgs of brown sugar, and 600 packets of spaghetti.
While traders develop new comic antics in dodging taxes and smuggling, URA has also heightened intelligence to counter the vice.
URA’s spokesperson, Ibrahim Bbossa urges traders to comply with procedures that have been created to facilitate trade. Bbossa noted that URA currently has over 27 Non-Intrusive Inspection cargo scanners at official border posts which is one of the moves towards evolving technology to counter smuggling.
In addition, the tax collecting body plans to invest in surveillance drones at porous border points to further curb such vices and create a levelled marketplace for Ugandans.
