Police in Rubavu district bordering DRC on Sunday arrested a Congolese national identified as sobeka Murezi 28 for attempting to smuggle 1,726 kilograms of castelite into Rwanda.
Sobeka was arrested at about 11PM during Police operation at the border post (Grande barrière) and seized precious stones in a Congolese registered car CG8675AB19 of model-Land Cruiser driven by Sobeka while attempting to cross into Rwanda.
Prior to the Search opreation, Police suspected the vehicle was carrying mineral stones just like in previous several cases where Congolese nationals used similar vehicles in smuggling.
Sobeka is currently held at Gisenyi Police Station while the vehicle and the mineral stones are at the Revenue Protection Department (RPD). Sobeka said he had been hired to bring the mineral to Rwanda by Charlotte Nyirakanyana also a Congolese national.
During the arrest, the suspect was found in no possession of either a personal identity card or a driving permit.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Theos Badege noted that while smugglers apply different tactics to siphon goods into and out of the country, Police has equally deployed several strategies to deal with them.
“Police officers and Rwanda Revenue Authority personnel have undergone thorough training to deal with smuggling offenses,” Superintendent Badege said.
Supt. Badege noted, “Smuggling affects economic welfare of the country as taxes are lost in the process. Business people should conduct business legally and avoid losing and serve jail time if apprehended by security forces. Collective efforts especially through information sharing are important in curbing smuggling”.
Last year Rwanda returned 80 tones of smuggled mineral resources to the Democratic Republic of Congo that had been smuggled into the country.
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