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A suspected drug trafficker identified as Emmanuel Ngendahimana was arrested on Friday in Nyamasheke District.
Ngendahimana was arrested in Mubuga Cell of Gihombo Sector with 16 kilogrammes of cannabis concealed in two sacks, Police said.
He is currently detained at Kanjongo Police Station.
Ngendahimana told the Police that he was given the narcotic drugs by a Congolese man.
"He hired me to take these two sacks of cannabis to Kigali where I would meet the owner," he said.
Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Innocent Gasasira, the Western region Police spokesperson, attributed the arrest to fishermen in Lake Kivu, who called and "informed the Police earlier that day, about Ngendahimana's criminal illegal luggage."
“ Ngendahimana has a wooden boat in Lake Kivu, and that day his colleagues became suspicious when they saw sacks on his boat as he approached the bank, they called the Police red-handed as he was offloading the sacks of cannabis on the Rwandan side," CIP Gasasira explained.
He commended the fishermen for the vigilance and called for "continued cooperation and information sharing on anything suspicious."
Elias Ndagijimana, the president of one of the fishing cooperatives operating in Lake Kivu also said that "it is our responsibility to ensure that the waters are safe for our business and not used by criminals."
He appealed to all those operating their businesses in the Lake to equally make it their priority to ensure that lawbreakers that try to use execute their unlawful acts like drug traffickers and smugglers through the water body are reported and arrested.
