The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Customs at Entebbe International Airport has retrieved over 90 new and used iPhones that were abandoned on the conveyor belt on Sunday by an unknown traveler.
Simon Esunget, the Manager of Entebbe Customs says that a passenger arrived at Entebbe Airport aboard Egypt Air with personal baggage including two audio subwoofers. The baggage was then directed to the baggage X-ray scanner for Non-Intrusive Inspection.
During the inspection, concealed smartphones and two subwoofers were discovered.
“Concealing of high-value items at various customs border posts is still common, however, X-ray scanners are playing a huge role in exposing schemes of notorious smugglers,” Esunget said.
According to the URA spokesperson, Ibrahim Bbossa, URA has strengthened controls on passenger arrivals to facilitate legitimate travelers and deter any incidences of attempted concealment of uncustomed goods.
“URA has deployed non-intrusive inspection (NII) technology which has proved to be very effective in unearthing tricks used by travelers to smuggle in goods carried as personal baggage, an allowance given by the airlines,” Bbossa said.
URA uses X-ray scanners at the different border points to safeguard revenue & enhance supply chain safety and security by effectively inspecting cargo without tampering with it. Meanwhile, the intercepted assorted smartphones were worth $60,000(Shs 222m).