{"id":2000110537,"date":"2026-04-30T11:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000110537"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:34:49","slug":"burundi-police-reportedly-shoot-dead-two-suspected-coffee-smugglers-near-rwanda-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/burundi-police-reportedly-shoot-dead-two-suspected-coffee-smugglers-near-rwanda-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Burundi: Police reportedly shoot dead two suspected coffee smugglers near Rwanda border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The incident reportedly occurred in the morning in Mparamirundi zone, Kayanza Commune, in Butanyerera Province, near the Rwanda\u2013Burundi border. Police officers operating in the area arrested four people accused of engaging in smuggling activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to police and local administrative officials, the suspects were found carrying between 40 and 60 kilograms of coffee, believed to have been intended for illegal cross-border trade. The border between the two countries has been closed for about two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four individuals were taken to Mparamirundi police station. Reports indicate that two of them were subsequently shot dead on orders from the station commander, identified only as Franck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local media outlet SOS M\u00e9dias reported claims that higher authorities may have instructed police operating along the Burundi\u2013Rwanda border to use lethal force against those caught smuggling goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Burundian police have provided a different account. Authorities say the gunfire heard at the Mparamirundi station resulted from unrest, as residents allegedly protested and demanded the release of those arrested. Police maintain that shots were fired into the air to disperse the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burundi\u2019s Ministry of Public Security has dismissed reports of civilian deaths in Mparamirundi as false. In an official statement, the ministry confirmed that individuals had been arrested for illegally transporting coffee and would be brought before the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one was killed in Mparamirundi zone, Kayanza Commune, Butanyerera Province. Those caught attempting to smuggle coffee will be prosecuted in accordance with the law,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the government\u2019s denial, other sources claim the two individuals were killed and have already been buried, with alleged instructions given to authorities to deny their deaths and state that they remain in custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mparamirundi is close to the border <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Burundian police, on April 29, 2026, reportedly shot and killed two individuals suspected of attempting to smuggle coffee into Rwanda through illegal routes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000110538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[151,99,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000110537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-40","tag-editors-choice","tag-greatlakesnews","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000110538,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Mparamirundi is close to the border ","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":750,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","width":150,"height":113},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","width":300,"height":225},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","width":768,"height":576},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","width":1000,"height":750},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/mparamiru-705c3.jpg","width":1000,"height":750}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000110537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000110539,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000110537\/revisions\/2000110539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000110538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000110537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000110537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000110537"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000110537"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000110537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}