Smugglers fire at URA operatives
Apr 16, 2008
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) operatives on Monday exchanged gunfire with a gang of smugglers they were pursuing in the Murchison Falls National Park.
By Frank Mugabi
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) operatives on Monday exchanged gunfire with a gang of smugglers they were pursuing in the Murchison Falls National Park.
Daniel Arorwa, the northern customs department manager, said none of the URA staff was injured.
He added that the suspects who were ferrying contraband Supermatch cigarettes managed to escape.
He said the incident, the first of its kind in many years, occurred at 1:00am in Olwiyo village about 45km from Pakwach town.
“It was too dark and the place being under populated, the suspects fled when we intensified fire but they abandoned the two cars they were using to transport the cigarettes,†Arorwa said.
Sixty cartons of Kenya-made Supermatch cigarettes were recovered from the salon cars registered numbers UDS 749 and UAB 272R UAB after a tip-off.
from informers, Arorwa disclosed.
In the same night, they seized a tipper lorry with 223 cartons of Tiger Head batteries worth sh15.6m.
Arorwa said the truck was attempting to cross the check point at Pakwach when they were stopped it.
“They approached the check-point with lights off, which raised suspicion among our armed soldiers. They surrounded the truck and arrested three people,†Arorwa said.
He blamed the increase in smuggling activities in the West Nile region on the porous borders and under control of imported goods in DR Congo and South Sudan.
THE Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) operatives on Monday exchanged gunfire with a gang of smugglers they were pursuing in the Murchison Falls National Park.
Daniel Arorwa, the northern customs department manager, said none of the URA staff was injured.
He added that the suspects who were ferrying contraband Supermatch cigarettes managed to escape.
He said the incident, the first of its kind in many years, occurred at 1:00am in Olwiyo village about 45km from Pakwach town.
“It was too dark and the place being under populated, the suspects fled when we intensified fire but they abandoned the two cars they were using to transport the cigarettes,†Arorwa said.
Sixty cartons of Kenya-made Supermatch cigarettes were recovered from the salon cars registered numbers UDS 749 and UAB 272R UAB after a tip-off.
from informers, Arorwa disclosed.
In the same night, they seized a tipper lorry with 223 cartons of Tiger Head batteries worth sh15.6m.
Arorwa said the truck was attempting to cross the check point at Pakwach when they were stopped it.
“They approached the check-point with lights off, which raised suspicion among our armed soldiers. They surrounded the truck and arrested three people,†Arorwa said.
He blamed the increase in smuggling activities in the West Nile region on the porous borders and under control of imported goods in DR Congo and South Sudan.