The suspects were arrested on Wednesday in a joint operation conducted by the security personnel and enforcement officers of the Uganda Revenue Authority-URA.
The Police
in Lamwo District has arrested five people for allegedly smuggling petroleum products from South Sudan into Uganda.
The suspects
were arrested on Wednesday in a joint operation conducted by the security personnel
and enforcement officers of the Uganda Revenue Authority-URA.
Lamwo
Resident District Commissioner James Nabinson Kidega says that the suspects
were arrested with smuggled products in their shops while others were sneaking
in with the fuel at the porous border points of Waligo in Palabek Nyimur Sub
County.
Kidega says
the suspects were taking advantage of the current escalation in fuel prices to deal
in smuggled fuel.
//Cue in:
“kombedi icawa…
. Cue out:
……engine ma megi”//
Tonny
Oketayot a resident of Lupulingi in Agoro Sub County says the smugglers have
frequently been seen using the ungazetted border post of Kalanga where they
proceed to Lutukuya and Tseretenya in South Sudan and buy fuel products cheaply
and later sell expensively.
//Cue in:
“lu Sudanese ma…
Cue out:
……gi kati kwede”//
An official
of the Uganda Revenue Authority who preferred anonymity says that they also
seized 750 litres of fuel and motorcycles used for ferrying the products.
He says that
the suspects have continued to flourish on smuggling while eluding tax
obligations which has led the tax body and the country into gross loss of
revenue.
The lack of
enforcement officers at the numerous illegal crossing points of the border-line
stretching over 150 kilometers from Waligo to Apiriti has hindered the enforcement
of illegal smuggling activities.
Dan Michael Komakech
Freelancer