Summary:
- According to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the operation was the culmination of months of surveillance.
ENTEBBE: The State House Anti-Corruption Unit, in collaboration with Entebbe Police and Uganda Civil Aviation Authority security, on Friday arrested three individuals in possession of counterfeit US dollars worth $2 million.
The arrests followed a thorough search of a garage in Entebbe Municipality, where a consignment suspected to have been smuggled from Entebbe International Airport was being hidden.
According to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the operation was the culmination of months of surveillance.
In May and later October 2024, the Unit received intelligence about a suspicious consignment being held at the airport.
From that point, they worked closely with other security agencies to monitor the situation.
On December 17, the consignment was smuggled out of the airport, prompting the investigation team to act.
The consignment was traced to a motor vehicle garage in Entebbe, where it was hidden.
During the search, the joint team uncovered 40 large and medium metallic boxes containing counterfeit US dollars.
To mislead potential victims, the fraudsters had added soil to the boxes to increase their weight.
In addition to the counterfeit currency, several bulky, well-wrapped boxes were recovered.
These were designed to appear as legitimate goods in transit but were filled with useless items such as empty soda and beer crates.
The three suspects are in custody, while efforts to track down other individuals involved are ongoing.
Brig. Gen. Henry Isoke, the head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, reaffirmed the Unit’s commitment to working with other agencies to combat fraud.
“We are determined to crack down on criminals who target innocent citizens and foreigners to extort large sums of money through fraudulent schemes,” he stated.
