It is a skill set that the smugglers based in Ariwala town, DR-Congo thought they had in plenty until they were nabbed pants down.
Their tactic was simple. Use an empty fuel tanker that has delivered fuel in DRCongo to convey contraband items into Uganda. Once the Lia team got wind of this scheme,they infiltrated the border town with CIs who tailed the smugglers for days.
After thorough intelligence and information gathering, an adhoc meeting was called by the station and the security team wherein it was agreed that truck cabins and fuel tankers returning to Uganda would be accorded extra attention.
Last week, the team cashed in on the meeting’s resolution when information came in late in the night that a fuel tanker was coming through with contraband cosmetics galore.
In the morning, the fuel tanker of interest pulled up at the border driven by a flamboyant driver who - oblivious of the fact that the team was in on his game, maintained a calm demeanor that would make Dimitar Berbatov envious.
Once the police requested him to open the fuel tanker, the driver shivered with panic and requested the officer to allow him to ‘’talk and handle the issue” in vain. The officers then searched and found the contraband in the empty truck as advertised.
Upon verification, 247 cartons of contraband cosmetics with hydroquinone were confirmed. The recovered items and the truck are held at Lia Customs station pending offense management.
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