By Sadique Bamwita
WEST NILE
A UPDF Toyota Premio bearing the military registration number H4DF 3449 has reportedly been intercepted carrying suspected smuggled cigarettes during an intensified anti-smuggling operation in the West Nile sub-region on October 26,2026.
Sources within the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) enforcement team said the vehicle was allegedly transporting cigarettes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) when it was intercepted by URA enforcement officers and impounded at the authority’s offices in West Nile.
The incident has raised questions about the circumstances under which a vehicle bearing a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) registration number was allegedly involved in transporting contraband. However, the vehicle’s ownership, the identities of those travelling in it and their possible links to the alleged smuggling operation have not been independently established
Preliminary information suggests a possible connection between the intercepted consignment and a wider smuggling network reportedly linked to a shipment previously intercepted by the Kenya Ports Authority before being released to continue in transit through Port Sudan. The nature of any connection between the two incidents remains unclear and requires further verification.
Several questions have also emerged over whether any individuals within the URA could have facilitated the alleged illegal trade. However, no evidence has been provided to establish the involvement of URA officials in the incident.
Meanwhile, URA’s Assistant Commissioner for Public and Corporate Affairs Robert Kalumba, who has previously spoken publicly about anti-smuggling enforcement operations, has not yet commented on the incident.
Cigarette smuggling in Uganda is a severe and sophisticated illicit trade network that costs the country up to Shs200bn annually in lost tax revenue.
