Four suspected smugglers have been arrested with contraband cigarettes in Wakiso.
They were arrested on Friday in Ssenge Village, Wakiso District by Uganda Revenue Authority Enforcement-URA officers, following a tip-off by an informer.
Ibrahim Bbosa, the URA Assistant Commissioner for Public and Cooperate Affairs, says the suspects were found with 59 boxes of smuggled flavored Oris cigarettes, 5 boxes of Platinum Seven valued at Shs.140 million.
According to Bbosa, the URA enforcement team received credible intelligence from informants, indicating the location of the house where the smuggled cigarettes were stored. He adds that the suspects tried to bribe the enforcement officers with Shs10 million but were arrested and are now being detained at Jinja Police Station.
Since they were caught red-handed, they didn’t resist arrest, but they opted to bribe our officers with 10 million shillings to allow them to carry on with their loading activity. The officer in turn informed his seniors about the move, who instructed him to falsely accept the money as the reinforcement team comes.
Bbosa says although the four were arrested, others are still at large after they managed to sneak some contraband out of the premises on Thursday night.
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