It is alleged that the group of Vietnam nationals has been operating in Uganda for the last three years using warehouses in Kyebando and Bugolobi, for storage of smuggled wildlife species.
![]()
The Two Vietnamese Suspects who have been Arrested in connection to Smuggling Ivory worth 14 billion shillings.
Two more Vietnamese suspected of smuggling ivory worth 14 billion Shillings have been intercepted at Entebbe International Airport. The two were blocked by the Uganda Revenue Authority Customs Enforcement Intelligence Officers while preparing to board Qatar Airways.
The duo; identified as Nguyen Van Thanh and Dinh Van Chung is part of the 18 Vietnam nationals who were declared wanted for smuggling ivory in Uganda. Those arrested are currently held at Jinja Road Police Station.
Uganda Revenue Authority Spokesperson Ian Rumanyika confirmed the arrest saying that the URA Customs Enforcement started the hunt for ivory smugglers soon after the arrest of three other Vietnamese, who were arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court last month.
“These two were arrested trying to flee the country to escape prosecution. URA Customs is now on the hunt for the 16 others, still at large”, Rumanyika told Uganda Radio Network in a phone interview.
It is alleged that the group of Vietnam nationals has been operating in Uganda for the last three years using warehouses in Kyebando and Bugolobi, for storage of smuggled wildlife species.
Available information indicates that the houses were disguised as timber consolidation centres. The smugglers stuffed the ivory in timber logs which would be cut to create space for the contraband and later covered with melted wax.
The initial group of Vietnamese arrested and charged earlier includes Nguyen Son Dong, 40, a Director of Wisdom Theta Limited and Pham Van Chieu 33 a resident of Ntinda a Kampala Suburb. The other is a woman; Phung Thi Lien, 35, a resident of Mackenzie View Suites in Kololo.
The trio was charged under the East African Community Customs Management Act of 2004 for being in possession of prohibited goods and conspiracy to commit a felony. They were later released on bail.
The Prosecution contends that the suspects and others still at large, were, on January 24, 2019, found in possession of 262 pieces of ivory weighing 3,299 Kilograms. The ivory was valued at 8.7 billion Shillings. The same group was also found with 423.7 kilograms of Pangolin Scales valued at 4.7 billion shillings.
