Rwanda National Police

The Revenue Protection Unit (RPU) impounded a vehicle and a motorcycle on Friday in Karongi District after they were intercepted smuggling 36 bales of second-hand clothes.

Two people were also taken into custody over the unlawful act, Police said.

RPU is a Rwanda National Police (RNP) arm attached to Rwanda Revenue Authority (RAA) to fight fraud and smuggling, among others.

Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Innocent Gasasira, the Police spokesperson for Western region, said that the vehicle plate number RAA 151L and the motorcycle RB 765W, were intercepted at about 3:30pm in Bwishyura Sector.

"A resident called the Police reporting two people at a place called Mwicoza that were loading bales of clothes on a vehicle; the bales had been smuggled into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo by boat through Lake Kivu," he explained. 

The motorcycle was being used by a spotter, who would inform the driver where Police was as a way of beating security, according to CIP Gasasira.

The smuggler had evaded taxes worth about Rwf3.5 million, according to RPU. 

CIP Gasasira commended the resident, who called the Police over the unlawful act, and called upon the general public to report such illegal businesses.

RRA recently announced that smuggled goods worth over Rwf595 million were seiezed in the 2017/2018 fiscal year, with used clothes being among the most smuggled.

In the last quarter, RPU recovered over Rwf354 million in taxes that would have been lost through fraud and smuggling.