Two smugglers will be parting with sums in taxes and penalties for attempting to illegally bring phones into the country. The two were intercepted in separate operations in Eastern Uganda recently.

On the afternoon of August 7^th, the enforcement team in Busitema was notified about a Rwandan truck registration number RAF 196R/RL3483 that was slowly making its way to the city, laden with smuggled phones.

Confident of his concealment skills, the driver planned to use one of URA’s tactical checkpoints.

Armed with this information, the team strategically waited for the truck as it slowly queued up for a detailed check. It was led to the parking lot, where thorough rummaging was done, and sure enough, seven carefully sealed packages were concealed under the driver’s bed in the cabin.

These were offloaded, and upon verification, found to contain over 2000 pieces of smartphones.

In Busia, URA recovered phones and accessories that had been concealed in wheat. A truck registration number UBB538E/UBG955 was scanned and the image of the reserve tank area looked suspicious.

Upon closer examination, a compartment housing a variety of phones and accessories was discovered between the truck head and the trailer.

Over 1000 pieces of button phones, 254 pieces of smartphones, and 2000 phone chargers and batteries were retrieved from this spot. 

The driver was handed over to intelligence for further management as the team recovered the necessary taxes and penalties.

These operations underscore URA’s commitment to protecting compliant taxpayers from price distortions caused by underpriced smuggled goods.

By Timothy T. Bashaija and Daniel Mbangire, Customs