Rwanda National Police

A commuter vehicle loaded with 29 bales of secondhand clothes was impounded by the Police in Kamonyi District on Saturday. 

The vehicle; RAA 081C, Toyota Hiace was intercepted Muganza Cell of Runda Sector along Kamonyi-Kigali highway. 

Two people who were on board were also taken into custody, Rwanda National Police (RNP) spokesperson, Commissioner of Police (CP) John Bosco Kabera, said.

He identified the suspects as Eliab Ntawukuriryayo, the driver and Jean Pierre Habimana, the owner of the vehicle. 

They were arrested following a tip-off from members of the public, CP Kabera said.

"Some people got suspicious when they saw concealed goods in the back seats of this public service vehicle, so they called the Police to establish what it was," CP Kabera said. 

A snap-check, he added, was mounted in Runda where it was stopped, checked and recovered the 29 bales that had been smuggled into the country through an illegal border and were being delivered in Kigali. 

He thanked the residents who called the Police but advised the business community to go through legal processes rather than wasting their money in channels that lead them into losses. 

The goods and the vehicle have been handed over to Revenue Protection Unit.

Besides evading taxes, smuggling could bring illegal, substandard and dangerous goods on the local market as well as affecting legal business as smuggled goods fetch prices lower than the usual standard. 

"When you engage in such fraudulent businesses expect losses; you will be arrested and you will lose the goods and even the vehicle," he warned.

By law, smuggled goods and the automobile used in the illegal act are auctioned. The driver also faces a penalty of US$5000.