URA has broken up a network of illegal traders smuggling rice through porous borders in Eastern Uganda and transporting it across the Jinja bridge on boda bodas for sale in Kampala.

The operations carried out last week followed weeks of meticulous intelligence gathering and surveillance, according to officers.

The first breakthrough came with the seizure of a Toyota Wish, registration number UBF 645K, found carrying smuggled rice. Further intelligence indicated that motorcycles were used to ferry rice across the old bridge without detection.

Informants were deployed to observe motorcycle movements, which eventually led the team to a house used as a storage facility. A raid on the premises early Sunday morning resulted in the confiscation of additional rice stock.

Operations extended into the morning of 17^th September, when another vehicle, registration UAQ 235B, was intercepted while transporting a new batch of illegal rice.

By the close of the operation, the team had recovered 42 bags (25kg each) of Sana/Aisha Parboiled Rice; 40 bags (40kg each) of Mahmood Basmati Rice; 5 bags (40kg each) of Qamar Basmati Rice and 35 bags (25kg each) of Baraf Long Grain Basmati Rice.

This successful operation demonstrates the effectiveness of intelligence-led enforcement and URA’s commitment to protecting the economy and the public from unregulated imports.

By Irene Kabakama