{Rwanda National Police (RNP) has arrested a Burundian national identified as Chadrack Mugwaneza, suspected to have stolen money from Uganda and crossed to Rwanda.}
Mugwaneza, 27, together with other two people, are said to have connived and stole Ushs6 million from a petrol station, where they were all working.
He was arrested in a hotel in Nyabugogo on January 19. Police also recovered Rwf519,000, which is alleged to be part of the stolen money he had already exchanged into Rwandan currency.
Police Spokesperson Chief Supt. Celestin Twahirwa, confirmed the arrest and urged the public to safeguard their property against theft as well as make timely reports of any suspicions to police.
He explained that on Sunday, Police received a complaint from a member of the victim’s family about Mugwaneza’s theft and that he was likely to have escaped to Rwanda.
“Investigations were immediately launched and the suspect was arrested on Tuesday at about 5:00am,” said CSP Twahirwa.
He observed that timely information sharing on such criminal activities is crucial, if the stolen equipment or goods are to be recovered in time and suspects apprehended.
The arrest and subsequent recovery of the stolen money comes a month after Rwanda National Police recovered US$11, 000, approximately Rwf8 million that had been stolen from a Ugandan businessman and sent to Rwanda, and arrested the main suspect.
In a bid to tackle cross-border, RNP extended Interpol’s communication system known as I-24/7 to all border posts, which gathers information on victims of crimes and suspects, in order to facilitate Police agencies for joint action.
The tool connects all law enforcement agencies in 190 Interpol member countries and allows investigators to access Interpol’s range of criminal databases to search and cross check data on suspected criminals or wanted persons, stolen and lost travel documents, stolen motor vehicles, fingerprints, DNA profiles, stolen administrative documents and stolen works of art.
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