A Toyota Hiace Drone, the outside painted in the colors of Ugandan taxis, discreetly sped over the busy roads of Uganda, bearing a registration plate from South Sudan. Below this exterior, though, was a story of deceit and disobedience to the authorities.
As suspected of being “baptized” illegally in Uganda, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) had its sights set on this automobile. Undercover enforcement will soon expose this violation. The following details the painstaking sting operation carried out by URA to discover the real reason behind the illegal conversion of a South Sudanese car inside Ugandan borders.
“No Surrender” is the word boldly inscribed on the rear glass of this Toyota Hiace Drone. No Surrender was also the M.O. of the owners of this motor vehicle, well, before they were nabbed.
According to URA, their crime? Illegally ‘baptizing’ an automobile.
The Drone in question came into Uganda from South Sudan with a South Sudan registration plate. Unfortunately, the owner neither intended to pay for a Transit Road Licence (TRL) to drive it in the 256 with its foreign plates nor the importation taxes applicable.
Instead, the owner painted the car in Uganda’s standard white and blue for taxis and also planted registration plates of another car, a Toyota Hiace on the Drone and soon embarked on business. Surprisingly, the car was deployed along the Mbarara-Kampala Highway, a highway with perhaps the highest count of ‘biddo’ in Uganda without any regard for ‘danger’.
Unbeknownst to the owner, the URA Masaka Enforcement team had flagged the vehicle as a car of interest. Daytime roadblocks yielded no fruits as The Drone preferred nighttime trips. The team adjusted their formation and mounted a nighttime highway ambush in Kaddugala town. Once the vehicle showed up, the URA truck pulled stealthily ahead of it, flagging it to stop.
It was over for the culprits as the vehicle was intercepted and duly taken for case management. The associated owners were also tracked down and are currently dancing to the tunes of justice.
This interception wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for real-time intel gathering. We appeal to every Ugandan motorist to use proper channels when acquiring an automobile.
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