Three suspects have been arrested in a state house anti corruption unit raid targeting the counterfeit smuggler operations in Entebbe, Wakiso district.
According to the Communication officer of the State House Anti-Corruption, Kennedy Odongkara, the first shipment was illegally transported out of the country on December 17,2024 prompting further police investigations into the origin of the monies.
“Since then, SH-ACU, together with other intelligence agencies, have been monitoring the consignment closely and were tipped off when the consignment was smuggled out of the airport to a certain garage in Entebbe,” Odongkara said.
The intelligence based operation conducted by SH-ACU, Entebbe Civil Aviation Police and a local council leader led to the discovery of US dollars amounting to $2 million packed in 40 large and medium metallic boxes.
The money was found neatly packed in dollar bundles in several metallic boxes.
However, the fraudsters filled the boxes with soil and other stationary items like papers to increase the density and evade suspicion at the airport.
The team also recovered several bulky, well-wrapped boxes, falsely appearing to contain goods in transit, yet they had useless items, including empty crates of soda and beer.
The State House Anti Graft Head, Brig Gen Henry Isoke pledged the unit’s coordination with other sister agencies to crack down on criminals who target innocent citizens and foreigners to extort from them colossal sums of money through fraudulent and fake transactions.