Two suspected ivory smugglers intercepted at Entebbe Airport
Mr Nguyen Van Thanh and Mr Dinh Van Chung have been part of the 18-man wanted mafia racket suspected to be behind ivory smuggling in the region. COURTESY PHOTO
What you need to know:
- “These two were arrested trying to flee the country to escape prosecution. URA Customs is now on the hunt for the 16 suspects still at large,” part of the URA statement reads.
- This mafia racket is said to have been operating in Uganda for the last three years and had a warehouse in Kyebando and a house in Bugolobi.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Customs Enforcement Intelligence Officers on Saturday evening intercepted and offloaded two Vietnamese nationals who have been on wanted list over ivory smuggling, from Qatar airways.
Mr Nguyen Van Thanh and Mr Dinh Van Chung have been part of the 18-man wanted mafia racket suspected to be behind ivory smuggling in the region.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) recently shared photographs of the suspects saying all the 18 Vietnamese were on the run and wanted in connection to an ongoing case of smuggling and possession of prohibited goods (ivory and pangolin Scales) concealed in Timber Contrary to sections 200 and 202 of the East African Community Customs Management Act 2004 (As mended).
URA identified the suspects as Thai Xuan Phuong, Dinh Van Quan alias Tony, Din Van Chung, Vo Quoc Trinh, Thai Xuan Tuan alias UNK, Do Trong Ha alias Hoang Ha, Tran Van Cao alias UNK and Vu Van Huan alias Jimmy.
Others are Trinh Trung Dung alias UNK, Le Viet Quyen alias UNK, Ha Chan Chinh, Le Dinh Quan, Nguyen Van Linh, Nguyen Van Thanh, Pham Trong Phuc, Nguyen Van Pha, Nguyen Van Viet, Hoang Van Hau.
According to the URA statement released on Sunday, the Authority’s Customs Enforcement has been on the hunt for these suspects since their three colleagues were arrested and prosecuted in court. It should be recalled that URA Customs seized the largest ever consignment of ivory and pangolin scales worth over 14 billion in February 2019 and the suspects were charged and remanded to Luzira Prison.
“These two were arrested trying to flee the country to escape prosecution. URA Customs is now on the hunt for the 16 suspects still at large,” part of the URA statement reads.
This mafia racket is said to have been operating in Uganda for the last three years and had a warehouse in Kyebando and a house in Bugolobi.
