Smuggling continues to evolve in various forms. One of the significant threats to legitimate trade at the Elegu border, between Uganda and South Sudan, is a practice known as round-tripping.
Round-tripping involves traders transporting goods to the destination country, unloading them, and then gradually bringing the goods back into Uganda. The goods are stored in consolidation centers until they are full, and then sold on the local market.
In February, the URA enforcement team discovered a scheme where smugglers would exit to South Sudan through different stations, then re-enter Uganda using porous points. They would then head to the Elegu Border to seek road users and temporary road licenses to legitimize their smuggling activities.
The team intensified their cargo monitoring efforts and collected more information about the operation. Their efforts bore fruit last week when they intercepted two truck heads, a Mercedes-Benz with Chassis No. WDB9505032L117048 and a Scania with YS2P6X40002063903, as the owners were planning to transport them to Kampala at night.
Simon Ssentale, an officer involved in the operation, reported that one of the trucks had been driven as far as Gulu. He revealed that the smugglers intended to use counterfeit road user licenses and fake South Sudan number plates to transport the trucks.
The truck heads were seized and are currently being held at the Elegu, awaiting further legal proceedings.