A suspected drug trafficker was arrested in Kirehe District as awareness and crackdown against drug dealers intensifies.

Cassien Uwitonze, 42, was arrested in the wee hours of Saturday with 8 kilogrammes of cannabis, after the driver of the public vehicle he attempted to board, notified Police. He is currently detained at Kirehe Police Station for further investigations.

Inspector of Police Emmanuel Kayigi, the police spokesperson for the Eastern Province said Uwitonze was intercepted at Cyunuzi Cell in Gatore Sector as he boarded a public vehicle that was headed to Kigali.

"Uwitonze attempted to board a vehicle to Kigali in Gatore but as the driver was loading his luggage, he suspected that it could be an illegal luggage and immediately called Police, who checked the luggage and actually found about 8 kilogrammes concealed in and the suspect was taken into custody right away,” IP Kayigi said, commending the vigilance of the driver.

"We are seeing an improved vigilance of transporters; we are increasingly receiving similar cases where drivers and motorcyclists have practiced their community policing powers to detect and report drug dealers that attempt to use their vehicles to traffic narcotics from one place to another,” he added.

Kirehe and Nyagatare districts are said to be major routes for cannabis and banned gin respectively in the Eastern Province.

"If everyone and all services play their community policing part and be vigilant, all drug dealers will find no place to hide,” he observed.

Fighting drug abuse is among the priorities of Rwanda National Police.

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