Rwanda National Police

Five people have been arrested in Nyagatare and Kirehe districts after they were found smuggling bales of shoes and clothes into the country.

In an operation conducted on May 23 in Nyagatare, Police and Rwanda Investigations Bureau (RIB) detectives seized eight bales of shoes in the house of one Celestin Twagirumukiza in Rwempasha Sector.

“We had received information about bales of shoes sneaked and were being taken to Twagirumukiza’s house. We trailed the smugglers and apprehended them as soon as they arrived at Twagirumukiza’s house, arrested four smugglers and impounded the smuggled goods,” said Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Theobald Kanamugire, the Eastern Region Police Spokesperson.

The bales were handed over to Revenue Protection Unit (RPU), a Rwanda National Police (RNP) arm attached to Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) to fight fraud and smuggling.

In Kirehe, CIP Kanamugire said that one Marie Josée Ingabire was also caught with a bale of secondhand clothes.

“Ingabire tried to bribe the RIB investigator with Rwf80, 000 to no success. She was immediately arrested over smuggled and attempted bribery,” the spokesperson said.

Under the East African Community Customs Management Act, impounded goods are auctioned.

Article 369 of the penal code states that anyone found guilty of tax evasion shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of between three and six months and a fine equal to the evaded tax.