Three women were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly smuggling about 250 bottles of liquor in Gicumbi district.They were found with smuggled goods including over 200 bottles of Africa Gin, Bond 7 and Uganda Waragi illegally brought in from Uganda.The trio, names withheld, are being detained at Byumba Police Station.According to the Police Spokesperson in Northern Province, SuperintendentFrancis Gahima, the three were travelling in a vehicle which was involved in an accident along the way.It is then that police checked their luggage at the scene that they discovered the contraband. Gahima said that the smugglers are suspected to be conniving with heavy truck drivers to help them transport their smuggled goods into the country.“It has come to our notice that some of the smugglers also have some particular places in Gicumbi where they send some people to bring them the goods through porous borders. We are now going to work closely with our Ugandan counter parts to fight these crimes,” he added.Gahima said that the liquor will be handed over to Rwanda Revenue Authority and the smugglers will have to pay tax for it.Police added that the Rwanda National Police and Uganda Police signed an agreement to work together in order to curb such crimes.Regional police Commanders from Rwanda and those from South West Uganda were also assigned to seal all unspecified illegal entry points in order to establish police posts there and deal with smuggling issue among other crimes.
