Security agents from the Ugandan Revenue Authority, as reported by the The Monitor have seized smartphones worth Shs200 million ($55,000) from persons they suspect to be smugglers.
The officials revealed that they had for weeks been orchestrating an intelligence operation against smugglers, which led to the confiscation of 781 smartphones and 108 units of button phones intended for the Ugandan market.
They elaborated on the devised movie-like tactics the smugglers had attempted to use in bringing in the contraband products to the East African country.
“Pssengers were repeatedly breaking bags on the conveyor belts, and sticking their cargo into hand carry luggage, and other nether regions. Some buried them deep in suitcases, mingled with personal belongings that would be disguised as ordinary ‘Kadama’ (‘migrant workers’) baggage,” the URA stated.
Another strategy employed by the smugglers was the joint scheme they hoped to pull off with the help of airport staff, including airport trolley pushers, and cleaners. They hoped that these staff would help them move the contraband past airport security.
“Then there was the ‘sitya danger’, ilk who threw caution to the wind, and attempted to dash past the scanner. Some smugglers even applied the usual age-old, desperate trick of strapping phones directly onto their bodies, hoping customs were none the wiser,” the URA elaborated.
“Unrelentingly, enforcement officers searched high and low and never gave up to counter the tricks of the smugglers,” the URA added.
The security officials revealed that phones are the most smuggled items at the Entebbe airport.
“The increase in phone smuggling is largely attributed to ignorance of values, and taxes to be paid, and greed by the traders to persistently evade taxes on mobile phones,” the URA noted.
Passenger profiling, monitoring CCTV cameras, and non-intrusive inspections are some of the tactics the URA has been employing to rid the airport of contraband products.
