Revenue Protection Unit (RPU) have impounded a vehicle in Rubavu District after it was intercepted loaded with 19 bales of smuggled second-hand clothes.

The Toyota Hilux, registration number RAA 012V, was intercepted at a snap-check mounted in Rugerero Sector.

The vehicle was heading to Kigali.

Chief Inspector of Police Innocent Gasasira, the Police Spokesperson for Western region, said that RPU mounted a snap-check in response to smuggling rings that use Rubavu-Kigali axis, especially from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The vehicle was loaded with 19 bales of second-hand clothes weighing 855kg. The driver, 39, and another man on board called, 27, were also taken into custody,” CIP Gasasira said.

Government is set to recover Rwf2.6 million that was bound to be lost in tax evasion, Gasasira said.

The vehicle will also be auctioned while the driver and the tax defaulter face varied penalties, he added.

Under article 199 of the East African Community Management Act, which Rwanda subscribes to, any driver caught in such fraudulent means is slapped a fine of US$5,000, while the vehicle and the goods are auctioned.

The tax defaulter faces a fine of up to ten times the value of the goods in question.

A report by RPU indicates that over Rwf354 million in taxes were recovered in the first quarter of the 2018/2019 fiscal year.

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