The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) recently stopped an illegal attempt to dump goods in Nalukolongo. Smuggling has evolved into a new form called dumping, where individuals sell goods within the transit country instead of taking them to the intended destination.
This incident involved a truck with registration number UBE591X/UAR571C, which was supposed to deliver goods to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Instead, the truck was diverted to Nalukolongo under the guise of parking. This act is against Section 104(b) of the East African Community Customs Management Act.
The URA’s Central Monitoring Center (CMC) noticed that the truck’s seals had been tampered with last Wednesday. The CMC quickly informed the Rapid Response Unit, which tracked down the truck. Upon inspection, the team found that both the electronic and metallic seals were broken, and some of the goods had already been offloaded.
The driver and the people unloading the goods fled into nearby bushes, leaving behind the truck and empty jerrycans of cooking oil. The truck was taken to the URA headquarters in Nakawa for a detailed inspection. The authorities found four empty jerrycans of cooking oil, nine that were half-empty, and over 1,000 with broken seals waiting to be emptied.
The URA is now managing the offense and investigating the incident further.
The Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) is a crucial tool for tracking transit goods across revenue authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan, with Burundi expected to join soon. This system uses electronic seals to monitor goods in real-time from the port of origin to their final destination. The Centralized Monitoring Center responds to any security alerts from these seals, ensuring that goods are accounted for and transit times are reduced.
