The Superintendent of Police Irene Mugoya, who represented the Commandant
Aviation Police at Entebbe International Airport has handed over confiscated
wildlife exhibits to Ms. Margaret Kasumba, the Assistant Commissioner for Law
Enforcement who represented the Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority
(UWA) on Friday, June 5, 2026. The exhibits have been in the custody of
Aviation Police Entebbe since 2011 after being confiscated through joint
operations with UWA and other security agencies.
Ms. Kasumba thanked the
security agencies and in particular Aviation Police for having secured stock of
all the impounded items as recorded in the UWA inventory system over the
period. The items handed over in total were 8857.84 kg of a wide range of endangered
and protected wildlife products including ivory (both raw and worked), pangolin
scales, rhino horns, hippopotamus teeth, skins, lion teeth and ostrich egg
shells. Some of these items had been concealed in tins labelled as shea butter
in an attempt to evade detection, highlighting the sophistication of wildlife
trafficking networks. Strengthened security measures, including the deployment
of a canine unit in 2018, have been helpful in curbing the vice.
SP Mugoya also extended
appreciation to UWA for responding positively to the request to take over the
exhibits and commended the joint teams from UWA and Aviation Police, who
conducted the inventory and confirmed that all exhibits were intact and properly
accounted for. It was noted that while a small portion of the seized items
originated from within Uganda, the majority were traced to have originated from
other countries and were attempting to use Entebbe as a transit route.
