Entebbe Nets 21 Aliens Over Drugs

Jan 25, 2002

THE newly established Entebbe Airport Joint Security Operation (JSO) has arrested 21 aliens, most of them Pakistanis, on suspicion of drug trafficking and illegal entry into the country.

By Geoffrey KamaliTHE newly established Entebbe Airport Joint Security Operation (JSO) has arrested 21 aliens, most of them Pakistanis, on suspicion of drug trafficking and illegal entry into the country.The aliens, said to be part of a wider syndicate operating in Uganda, were netted from various places in an overnight swoop by Joint Security Operation which comprises Special Branch, CMI, CID and Anti-narcotics officials. Suspects include 14 Pakistanis, two Indians three Nigerians and a Ghanaian. One of the Nigerians is reported to be wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Interpol on charges of drug-trafficking.The Nigerian, identified as Bontana, was picked from Olympia Hotel in Kansanga on Ggaba Road in the outskirts of the city, where he has reportedly been staying for over a month.The group was later transferred to Old Kampala Police Station, where they were being held by last evening. A half a dozen of them wore kanzus behind the cells.“We are only keeping them, we did not take part in the operation,” the Division Police Commander, Hajji Abbey Kisubi, said.On arrest, the bespectacled Bontana reportedly surrendered US$2,000, over £700 and a number of other currencies to the security officials, in exchange for his freedom. But the anti-narcotics officials immediately apprehended him. “We are holding them for drug-trafficking and being involved in covert activities. Some of them don’t have passports but claim to be investors,” a source said.Ends

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