To evade law enforcers, smugglers now train cows

IDDY MWEMA

SMUGGLERS have devised new methods to escape law enforcers, and this time around they are using trained cattle for the mission to evade tax, the Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Force revealed yesterday.

Speaking to reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Special Zone (DCP), Hezron Gyimbi said the smugglers decided to come up with the new means after the police force and other law enforcers blocked all routes that were used to smuggle in the goods.

However, he said their innovations were short-lived after the police force carried out a special operation to all smuggling routes and discovered the new means applied in illegal importation of electrical goods as they evade paying taxes.

“The cattle are well trained and they know where they are supposed to pick the commodities, and thereafter they head back to the warehouse where these illegal commodities are stored,” revealed Mr Gyimbi.

Expounding further, he said on August 17 at around 8 pm at Mbweni area, at an area close to the ocean, some cattle were found alone without a herder at night carrying bags of sugar, a TV set and soap.

The police are still searching for the owners of the cattle. In another incident, the police have arrested four people suspected to be bandits connected to armed robbery incidences in Dar es Salaam and neighbouring regions.

Mr Gyimbi named the suspects as Uswege Seleman (23), Hassan Abdallah (73), Said Kiwambu (39) and Hamadi Badrilu (28).

“The suspects were arrested following a tip off from good Samaritans who were suspicious of the activities carried by the four suspects, and we raided their premise,” he said.

The police found them in illegal possession of a Mark IV gun with serial number LA- 227725A, and after interrogation they admitted to have been involved in a number of criminal activities,” said Mr Gymbi.