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Rwanda National Police

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Over 170 boxes, 4300 litres of illicit brew seized

Separate operations conducted by the Police in Nyarugenge and Rwamagana districts on Tuesday impounded 170 boxes and 4,320 litres of Kambuca, respectively, from distillers and dealers.

Kambuca, which has no certification and Standardisation Mark (S-Mark) issued by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), is classified among illicit drinks in Rwanda.

In Nyarugenge, the Police spokesperson for the City of Kigali, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Marie-Gorrette Umutesi said that the 4,080 bottles of Kambuca concealed in 170 boxes were being trafficked in a vehicle Dyna RAC 102D, which was intercepted in Ruliba, Kigali Sector.

“The vehicle was stopped at a Police check-point in Ruliba along Kigali-Kamonyi highway, checked and it was found loaded with 170 boxes of Kambuca,” CIP Umutesi said.

She added: “In the process of enforcing the law, four people on board including the alleged distiller identified as Gaspard Hitimana, attempted to seduce the Police officers with a bribe of Rwf100, 000 so as not to take any legal action and to release the vehicle and their illegal goods, they were all arrested and handed over to RIB at Kigali station.”

The spokesperson identified other suspects as Mathias Baranyika, Janvier Hakizimana and the driver, Robert Nsengimana, the owner of the impounded vehicle. The substances distilled in Ruyenzi, Kamonyi District were being delivered to a dealer at Kinamba.

Elsewhere in Rwamagana, the 4,320 litres of Kambuca were recovered from the house of the alleged dealer identified as Francois Bujiji, CIP Hamdun Twizeyimana, the Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, said.

“There was information that Bujiji was dealing in illicit drinks, Police and local leaders, on Tuesday at about 7pm, went to his house located in Muhazi Sector, Nyarusange Cell where the substances were recovered,” said CIP Twizeyimana.

Police advises the general public to go through the legal process, acquire documents, follow health and quality procedures to distill alcoholic beverages.

RSB specifies that “only food grade processing aids recognized as safe for human consumption shall be used during the manufacture.”

Other standard requirements include labeling (name of the products, physical and postal address of manufacturer); net contents in milliliters or liters; ethyl alcohol content; date of manufacture and expiry date; storage instruction; statutory warnings; and list of ingredients in descending order.