Lakes State vows crackdown on alcohol smugglers

Authorities in Lakes State have vowed a crackdown on the smugglers of alcohol brands that were banned in the area last month.

Lake State Police Spokesperson, Maj. Elijah Mabor, said some traders have continued to smuggle the substance to the state from Juba, adding those already arrested will be tried in court.

 “As the number of the smugglers increase, the police are now vigilant enough to check them [and] make sure that everything is controlled,” Maj. Elijah Mabor told The City Review in a telephone interview yesterday. 

“We have the court and the sentence will be according to the quantity that someone has smuggled because some people smuggle small quantity and others come with the huge amount of the alcohol,” he added.

The officer said sometimes if caught, the traders are immediately taken to mobile courts for sentence and later taken to prison for one or two months depending on the court ruling and crime committed,” he said.

Maj. Mabor said sometimes the smugglers are asked by the court to pay the fines depending on the court decision.

“We the police are only implementing the law and order, we have to arrest and send them to the court,” he said.

Last week, the authorities in Central Equatoria State threatened to ban the sale and the consumption of alcohol gins and spirits and Western Equatoria State had promised to take the same measures.

However, in Eastern Equatoria State the measure was enforced two months ago after the area governor Louis Lobong Lojeri issued an order banning the sale of alcohol in the state.

The order also regulated the importation of sugar in the state and all bars across the counties. It limited the time of operation from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm from Monday to Friday.

According to the order, any company or individual who violates the order shall be fined SSP 1,000,000 and imprisonment.