URA Exposes Cigarette Smuggling Hideout Behind Welded metal

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has uncovered two incidents of sophisticated smuggling operation involving Fuso trucks modified to conceal over 300 cartons of cigarettes.

The vehicles, UAX 194X and UAM 810Q, together with the smuggled cigarettes, were seized and brought to URA Headquarters in Nakawa for further examination.

In Arua, enforcement officers intercepted a Fuso truck UAX 194X, in which cartons of cigarettes had been staffed beneath welded metal layers at the base of the truck. The concealment was further disguised using wooden lemon carriers, making the modified section appear to be part of the truck’s ordinary carrier.

Preliminary findings by the enforcement team in Arua indicate that the contraband was loaded in Ariwara, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before being transported towards Uganda.

In a separate interception in Pakwach, enforcement found more cartons of cigarettes from truck UAM 810Q. The cigarettes had been hidden in a fabricated compartment welded onto the truck and disguised to appear as part of the truck’s front structure.

This truck was reportedly travelling from South Sudan, entering Uganda through Panyamur in Arua, before using a ferry on its route to West Nile.

The scale of the concealment became evident when officers had to use a grinder to cut through the welded sections and gain access to the hidden compartments.

Addressing the media at URA Headquarters in Nakawa, the Assistant Commissioner for Public and Corporate Affairs, Robert Kalumba, presented two suspected drivers, Atiko Michael and Mutebi Bogere, who had been apprehended and transferred to Kampala to face charges in court.

“This operation is part of the intensified enforcement against smuggling, particularly through porous entry points. The cigarettes in these trucks were made in Uganda for export to the Central African Republic and were being smuggled back into the country through South Sudan,” he said.

The commissioner General of Uganda Revenue Authority John. R. Musinguzi has made a strong call for Ugandans to desist and have zero tolerance to act of smuggling and commended the anti corruption operations in the various regions across the country.

“Smugglers have continued to suffocate our economy but each day our enforcement team we are cracking them down. They will face the law and pay the penalties to this act.” He mentioned

Musinguzi urged Ugandans to be vigilant and on the look out for such illicit activities confirming that timely tip off information and reporting of suspected cases through URA’s whistleblowing channels will end this revenue leakage vice.