Overview:
The crackdown began with the seizure of a Toyota Wish (UBF 645K) loaded with contraband rice. Intelligence then pointed to motorcycles as the main transport tool across the old bridge. Informants were deployed to monitor night-time motorcycle trips, which led officers to a residential house doubling as a storage depot. A dawn raid uncovered more smuggled stock.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has dismantled a network of illegal traders smuggling rice into the country through porous eastern borders and transporting it on motorcycles across the Jinja bridge for sale in Kampala.
The enforcement operation, carried out last week, followed weeks of covert surveillance and intelligence gathering. URA officers tracked smugglers’ movements, eventually exposing how small consignments of rice were ferried on bodabodas to evade detection.
The crackdown began with the seizure of a Toyota Wish (UBF 645K) loaded with contraband rice. Intelligence then pointed to motorcycles as the main transport tool across the old bridge. Informants were deployed to monitor night-time motorcycle trips, which led officers to a residential house doubling as a storage depot. A dawn raid uncovered more smuggled stock.
The operation extended into September 17, when a second vehicle (UAQ 235B) was intercepted transporting another batch of rice.
By the end of the mission, URA had recovered:
- 42 bags (25kg each) of Sana/Aisha Parboiled Rice
- 40 bags (40kg each) of Mahmood Basmati Rice
- 5 bags (40kg each) of Qamar Basmati Rice
- 35 bags (25kg each) of Baraf Long Grain Basmati Rice
The haul underscores the scale of the illicit trade and the evolving methods smugglers employ to infiltrate Uganda’s market.
URA hailed the operation as a victory for intelligence-led enforcement, stressing that unregulated rice imports not only deprive the country of revenue but also expose consumers to unverified products.