{{The Revenue Protection Department (RDP) has intercepted a vehicle in Rubavu district loaded with boxes of liquors valued in millions of francs, which were being smuggled into the country from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo through porous borders.}}
The vehicle was intercepted on April 10 at about 8:30 am in Nkamira sector along Rubavu-Kigali highway.
Chief Inspector of Police, Ildephonse Rutagambwa, the deputy Commanding Officer of RPD, said those seized include 116 bottles of black label, 24 bottles of golden, 30 bottles of Amarula and 11 bottles of jack Daniel.
Also seized are 228 sachets of sky vodka, an illegal gin in Rwanda and seven boxes of caro-light, a bleaching lotion also banned in the country.
“We acted on the credible information provided by informers and intercepted the vehicle which was headed to Kigali from Rubavu carrying the smuggled and some illegal goods,” CIP Rutagambwa said.
He identified owners of the goods as Janvier Mukamana and one only identified as Mahoro.
He said that the duo had evaded taxes amounting to over Rwf3.3 million.
He also disclosed that other seven carton and 58 pieces of salsa tomato sauce were intercepted the previous day in Kagarama cell, Gishyita sector of Karongo district as they were being smuggled into the country from DRC, through Lake Kivu.
“These are illegal acts which have an impact on the economy through tax evasions and can bring into the market counterfeit products, which pose ill-effects on people’s health,” he observed.
CIP Rutagambwa also said in partnership with the public, they have been able to crackdown on people involved in these illegal acts.
“We have stringent strategies in place to fight fraud, and at this point, we are seeing a steady decrease in fraud-related cases,” he noted.
He called upon the general population to fight smuggling and counterfeit products by providing timely information to security organs on those involved.
The Revenue Protection Department is a Rwanda National Police unit attached to Rwanda Revenue Authority to help the tax body in preventing, detecting and investigating cases related to tax evasion and smuggling.
RNP
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