Security Impounds Pakistan Cigarettes

By Emmy AllioSECURITY agencies and the Special Revenue Protection Services (SRPS) are holding about 1,200 cartons of cigarettes worth over sh500m imported from Pakistan.The cigarettes of the Boss brand imported by a Ugandan registered company, Taaba Limited, were last week checked to find out if they contained narcotics, but the results were negative.Security sources said earlier suspicions linking Taaba Limited to Osama bin Laden and the Al- Qaeda network were also proved wrong. Sources in the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and SRPS said the company is also being probed of under-declaring the value of there goods. They said they suspected the company of colluding with some URA officers and forging documents to lower the cost of the cigarettes.“It has been hard for us to ascertain the international value of Boss cigarettes. The provisional charges which URA levies will be reviewed as soon as we know of the international rate,” SRPS spokesman Lt. Bi-hoku Barigye said.However, Mr. Kadadi Bizanjo, the managing director of Taaba Limited dispelled the allegations of links to Al-Qaeda or of under-declaring the cigarette value. The cigarettes are being held at Goodshed and Maersk depots in Kampala.“It is not true. My company has no links with terrorists organisations and our goods are not being held by the authorities,” Kadadi said.He also said he did not trust telephones to discuss important information on them.The New Vision was shown empty vouchers impounded from Taaba Limited complete with stamps and signatures of the directors of two Pakistani-based companies, H.I.S Industries and Ismail Group of Companies.Taaba Limited claims the companies are the suppliers of Boss cigarettes.“We suspect that on declaring goods, Taaba Limited fills these empty vouchers to under declare the goods,” URA sources said.“importation of cigarettes into the country is not a lucrative business, due to the high tariffs imposed on them,” SRPS sources said.Ends