By KT Reporter
Six Congolese nationals are in custody at Arua City Central Police Station for allegedly dealing in counterfeit U.S. dollars, while others are still on the run. The suspects were arrested late Friday at Upper Bibia Cell, Pangisha Ward, Arua Central Division, as they attempted to exchange 300,000 fake U.S. dollars, packed in three bundles, for Ugandan shillings.
Richard Amvuku, the Officer in Charge of Operations at Arua City CPS, who led the operation, said police acted on a tip-off from the community. He revealed that the counterfeit notes were estimated at 1.68 billion shillings. The suspects, identified as Joseph Manikeleza, Asiha Mumbere, Aquinza Dudu Mitira, Sadraq Kabutala, Jean Pierre Hassan, and Musa Muhammad, face charges of dealing in fake currency and defrauding the public. Amvuku said the group, aged between 25 and 50, claimed to be Congolese refugees but had no documents at the time of their arrest.
Meanwhile, the Police Spokesperson for West Nile, Jimmy Anguyo, has warned the business community and the public in Arua and across West Nile against transacting foreign currency in unlicensed places. He said such dealings expose them to fraudsters.
Anguyo added that police will sustain operations to clean up the city, noting that Arua has increasingly become a hub for suspicious characters.
Police have since launched investigations and a manhunt for other suspects still at large, appealing to the public to provide timely information to curb such crimes.
In a related development, police in Arua this week recovered two vehicles stolen from Malaba in Kenya and Wandegeya in Kampala, which have been handed over to Interpol in Kampala for further management.
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