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Kinyarwanda
Police in Gasabo District arrested one Ismail Hagenimana, a former convict, as he tried to sneak heroin into Mageragere prison.
According to the Central Region Police Spokesperson, Supt. Emmanuel Hitayezu, Police and Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS) received a tip-off that Hagenimana was to "sneak narcotics into the facility while visiting an inmate.”
“Hagenimana had stuffed heroin in food which he had brought for an inmate. Unfortunately for him, we already had information criminal attempts. On reaching at the gate, he was searched and indeed he was found with four bundles of heroin hidden in fries,” said Supt. Hitayezu.
“He was immediately arrested and currently in custody as Mageragere Police station as investigations proceed to identify where he got the hard drugs and the one he was taking them for.”
Hagenimana had formerly been in the same prison where he served a sentence after he was convicted of rape.
In a separate interview, the spokesperson of RCS, Chief Inspector of Prisons (CIP) Hillary Sengabo said that “prisons are well protected and whenever there is an attempt to smuggle in drugs, it is foiled.”
“Previously, we intercepted seven people attempting to sneak drugs into prisons; these people were charged, prosecuted and sentenced, they are now serving their sentences,” said Sengabo.
He, however, appealed to public to not dare attempt to deal in narcotics or sneak them in correctional facilities.
Article 594 of the Rwandan penal code, stipulates that, any person who, unlawfully, makes, transforms, imports, or sells narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances within the country, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three to five years and a fine of Rwf500, 000 to Rwf5 million.
