How URA enforcement team foiled robbery of a fuel truck in Mbale

The Mbale Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) enforcement team on November 19 foiled the robbery of a fuel truck reg number KCB 022G that was in transit to Democratic Republic of Congo.

It followed a tip off that unknown armed assailants had hijacked the truck.

Sources within URA told this reporter that the truck driver and a conductor were put on gun point at about 1:00 am that very night just after Malaba and later thrown out of the truck around Busia, along Mbale Tororo Road, with both their feet and hands tied together in 'kandooya' style.

Upon receiving this report, officials explained that the enforcement team immediately contacted the transit monitoring unit which mans the regional electronic cargo tracking system for a live location of the truck.

The team of security personnel was thereafter constituted to move in and rescue the cargo as quickly as possible.

The URA transit monitoring unit located the fuel truck at Nakaloke, along Mbale- Soroti Road, about 50 kilometres from where it was hijacked and notified the rescue team about this location.

The team moved to the location immediately and intercepted the fuel truck as the assailants were siphoning fuel.

The assailants scampered for their lives and scattered into the surrounding bushes when they suddenly saw the enforcement team approaching, leaving behind their tools.

The enforcement team recovered all the fuel, about 200 litres, that had been siphoned by the assailants, a gun, a magazine with three rounds of ammunition, a bag containing documents and a sack containing phones and clothes suspected to belong to the truck driver and the conductor.

The truck driver praised the heroics of his turn-boy who untied the ropes, sought the help of Nakaloke local leaders who in turn provided them with a phone which the driver used to contact his relatives.

It is the driver's relatives who reported the matter to URA.

According to the tax body, the gun, magazine and ammunition were handed over to security operatives while the truck along with its contents was forwarded to the intelligence team for further case management.

This recovery according to URA is attributed to the driver's vigilance, quick reaction and technology.