URA intercepted a passenger arriving at Entebbe International Airport aboard Uganda Airlines at about 12:30pm.
He was trolleying his “32 Star television” placed in a Hisense box.
Upon scanning his packages, the image analysis revealed that additional items were concealed within the box as opposed to a single television set. This raised suspicion among the Customs team at Entebbe who requested the client to move to the verification area for further examination.
After a few minutes, the client attempted to escape using the exit door to avoid the physical verification process. However, he was intercepted by the vigilant URA enforcement officers and airport Police teams.
As is the norm for perpetrators, the offence management process commenced and during physical examination, 2 brand new Samsung galaxy phones and 133 assorted refurbished used phones as listed below were discovered;
New smart phones:
Samsung Galaxy S9+ 64GB – 02pcs
Refurbished / Used phones:
Basio au kyv42 Qualcomm 3G/4G – 05pcs
Mono/Docomo 16GB – 04pcs
iPhone 7 32GB – 01pc
Sony Xperia au 50v36 16GB 09pcs
Arrouls F.01J/Docomo 16GB – 03pcs
Acquos 3GB/4GB – 15pcs
Motorola 05 8GB/1GB – 09pcs
Huawei P8 Lite 16GB/1GB – 03pcs
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge 32GB/3GB – 11pcs
Samsung Galaxy S10 64GB/3GB – 06pcs
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 64GB/3GB – 30pcs
Samsung Galaxy S9+ – 02pcs
Samsung Galaxy S8+ 64GB/3GB – 19pcs
Samsung Galaxy S9 32GB/2GB – 13pcs
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 128GB/4GB – 03pcs
The batch of intercepted phones at Entebbe Airport
Julius Nkwasire, the Assistant Commissioner Enforcement in Customs noted that URA has enhanced intelligence and surveillance throughout the country to curb smuggling emphasizing that all those involved should stand warned.
URA has also acquired 27 baggage and cargo scanners to strengthen inspection of imports, exports and also address security controls at the different border points throughout the country.
