LAMWO, UGANDA: The police in Lamwo district has arrested five people for allegedly smuggling petroleum products from South Sudan into Uganda.
The suspects were arrested on Wednesday in a joint operation conducted by the security personnel and enforcement officers of the Uganda Revenue Authority-URA.
Lamwo Resident District Commissioner James Nabinson Kidega says that the suspects were arrested with smuggled products in their shops while others were sneaking in with the fuel at the porous border points of Waligo in Palabek Nyimur sub county.
Kidega says the suspects were taking advantage of the current escalation in fuel prices to deal in smuggled fuel.
Tonny Oketayot, a resident of Lupulingi in Agoro sub county says the smugglers have frequently been seen using the ungazetted border post of Kalanga where they proceed to Lutukuya and Tseretenya in South Sudan and buy fuel products cheaply and later sell expensively.
An official of the Uganda Revenue Authority who preferred anonymity says that they also seized 750litres of fuel and motorcycles used for ferrying the products.
He says that the suspects have continued to flourish on smuggling while eluding tax obligations which has led the tax body and the country into gross loss of revenue.
The lack of enforcement officers at the numerous illegal crossing points of the border-line stretching over 150 kilometers from Waligo to Apiriti has hindered the enforcement of illegal smuggling activities.
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