Man dressed in UPDF uniform arrested with shs300m goods as smugglers change tactics

In what seems like a change in tactics, Uganda Revenue Authority has arrested a man dressed in a UPDF uniform in a bid to beat enforcement and goods worth shs300 million impounded.

During the operation in which a truck registration number UAE 050F was stopped by URA officers along the Mukono-Kayunga road and in it were over 200 cartons with smuggled high-value pens from outside the country.

According to Julius Nkwasire, the URA Assistant Commissioner in charge for Enforcement, Davis Bakashabaruhanga who was dressed in military fatigue was driving the truck and on being stopped, he flashed a UPDF identity card to URA officers.

He noted that on flashing the UPDF identity card, URA officers verified its authenticity with their colleagues in the army and it was found out that the document was fake.

“We asked him out of the vehicle only to discover he is not anybody related to UPDF. He had different versions of the story. Smuggling has evolved from outright smuggling to doing it using fake documents, relationships and systems to reduce on tax obligations,” Nkwasire said.

Also arrested was Emmanuel Kwesiga.

The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso said the army will do all it takes to deal with such people who tarnish its name among the public.

“On many occasions, you hear people in uniform doing certain things and often times the army as an institution is blamed yet there are people like him who get hands on our uniform and commit such atrocities. We can’t allow it to continue,”Byekwaso said.

“This is a warning to all those involved in misusing the UPDF uniform. We shall stand to deal with the culprits regardless of who is involved.”

Change in tactics

Over the years, the face of smuggling has evolved but in the same vein, the tax body, Uganda Revenue Authority has also changed tactics to deal with the problem at hand.

The country loses millions of shillings in smuggling every year.