Rwanda National Police

Drivers of public vehicles have been cautioned against facilitating smugglers to transport their goods.

The warning follows various operations in which vehicles have been impounded transporting smuggled goods.

In an operation conducted on Thursday, September 29, in Muhanga District, Police impounded a bus transporting 1074kgs of smuggled second-hand clothes.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Theobald Kanamugire, the Police spokesperson for the Southern region, said that the clothes belonged to five passengers, who were also arrested.

"The operation was based on credible information that a group of smugglers had boarded a bus from Rusizi District en-route to Kigali. It was stopped in Muhanga where five smugglers were arrested, their 1074kgs of smuggled clothes seized and the bus impounded," said SP Kanamugire.

The clothes were sneaked into Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"A number of public vehicles have been impounded transporting smuggled goods as well as narcotic drugs. There are serious repercussions including imprisonment, impounding and auctioning the vehicle used in smuggling," the spokesperson warned.

Also in Rubavu District, Police apprehended two people, who were smuggling five bales of smuggled clothes and 49 pairs of shoes.

Article 199 of the East African Community Management Act, which is applicable in Rwanda, provides that seized smuggled goods be auctioned.

A vehicle intercepted transporting smuggled goods is also auctioned and the driver slapped a fine of US$5000.

Fraud

A taxpayer, who commits fraud, is subjected to an administrative fine of one hundred percent (100%) of the evaded tax and a likely imprisonment of between six months and two years.