Lorry with 1.5bn/- stolen cargo found

BERNARD LUGONGO

BIG shock struck residents of Kisota in Kigamboni District on Monday evening, when local authorities, in collaboration with the police, uncovered a house in which stolen goods worth billions of shillings were stored.

In a movie-like scene, one of whose aspects was application of the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), the law enforcers fired into the air as they approached and stormed into the premises, compelling some occupants to escape by jumping over the fence.

In the compound, they found a hijacked lorry carrying copper from Zambia and an underground oil tank with a capacity of storing about 20,000 litres of fuel.

The cargo, worth about 1.5bn/- was destined for the market in Europe, US and China, according to a logistics company tendered to carry the consignment belonging to the Zambian government. General Director of E.

Awadh Company Ltd, the one whose truck carried the cargo, Mr Faisal Edha, said yesterday morning that he got the news of the missing truck carrying the consignment.

“We immediately contacted the police and went with them to the house with the help of GPRS fixed in the truck,” Mr Edha said. Upon entering the house, the lorry was found with some of the cargo already offloaded.

“I commend the police who did a good job as they managed to rapidly respond and intervene within a short period and recovered the truck and consignment. I think these people have a big network.

It can tarnish the image of the port; we should make sure that it is totally dismantled,” he added. Kigamboni District Commissioner Hashim Mgandilwa explained that the culprits stole the lorry and took it to the house.

“I appeal to the truck owners to fix car tracking system in their trucks and recruit trustworthy drivers, as some of them collude with thieves,” he advised. The DC appealed to Kigamboni residents to report to the authorities over suspicious situations in their areas, to facilitate prompt security measures.

Engineer Shaban Selemani, head of petrol inspection department at the Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority (EWURA), noted that they had assessed the brick-made oil tank underground and estimated its storing capacity at between 10,000 and 20,000 litres.

“We have taken the sample to see whether the fuel was legal, but we established that it was illegal, obtained through either theft or illegal importation,” he revealed.

Citing regulatory issues, he said, the place, which is residential, is not permitted to store fuel, warning over a possible fire outbreak.

Chairman of the Mjimwema local government, Mwinyi Baishe, said: “We also have been doubtful about this house due to its eerie quietness, as though no-one lived there.

As a leader, today’s incident has given me a new challenge of being curious to know what is happening inside fenced houses.”