{Pharmaceutical drugs including 40 cartons of Coartem and 3, 000 tablets of Bactrim were intercepted yesterday in Nyagatare district as they were being smuggled from Uganda. }
The drugs which also include 30 malaria test tube apparatuses were seized in Nyagatare sector as they were being transported on a motorcycle.
One person identified as Leonard Habamahirwe, who was transporting the drugs, was also apprehended and currently detained at Nyagatare Police station as investigations continue.
Inspector of Police Emmanuel Kayigi, spokesperson for the Eastern region, who confirmed the seizure and the subsequent arrest, said they received information from people residing at the border about someone, who had entered the country through an illegal border post carrying unknown things on a motorcycle.
“He was stopped in Nyagatare Cell of Nyagatare sector and searched and was found carrying pharmaceutical drugs,” IP Kayigi said.
Although Nyagatare is at the border and prone to smuggling and other cross-border illegal activities through porous borders, IP Kayigi explained that there are measures in place to curb such acts including snap checks, community policing where locals take the responsibility of fighting such acts and working with Uganda Police to intercept such illegal commodities and apprehend criminals.
Early this month, in collaboration with Uganda Police, recovered 12 cows that had been stolen from a kraal in Nyagatare and taken to Kafunjo, about 20 kilometres off Kagitumba Border Post in the South Western Ugandan district of Ntungamo.
IP Kayigi appealed to residents, especially those residing near the border to always report any illegal acts adding that such smuggled products can be of danger to people’s health if they are expired.
In December last year, counterfeit and illicit goods including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and alcoholic drinks valued at over Rwf14.5 million have been seized in Rwanda in an ongoing Interpol-backed regional operation code named ‘FAGIA Operation.
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