Mbarara police nab three men over ferrying 49 cattle carcasses
Police in Mbarara have intercepted two trucks carrying 49 cattle carcasses suspected to have been illegally slaughtered, arresting three men in a joint operation targeting livestock theft and the illegal transportation of meat.
Kenneth Gumisiriza Kabwigo, the District Police Commander (DPC) for Mbarara Central Police, addresses the media at the Mbarara Police Station grounds on Saturday, alongside carcasses of recovered stolen livestock. (Credit: Fred Turyakira)
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MBARARA — Police in Mbarara is holding three suspected livestock thieves nabbed while transporting 49 cattle carcasses to Kasese District and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In the same operation, security impounded two Mitsubishi Fuso Canter box body trucks where the animal remains had been concealed.
Kenneth Gumisiriza Kabwigo, the District Police Commander (DPC) for Mbarara Central Police, reported that the arrests occurred during a joint operation on Friday night around 10:00pm.
Acting on a tip-off, police officers and Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) security operatives from the Second Division in Makenke Barracks intercepted two trucks suspected of carrying stolen and illegally slaughtered meat.
Heads and meat from suspected stolen livestock impounded at the Mbarara Police Station playground on Saturday. (Credit: Fred Turyakira)
The suspects, who by Saturday (August 22) remained detained at Mbarara Central Police Station, are: Stephen Bazaara, 60, a DRC national residing in Kasese District; Peter Mutesasira, 40, from Nyendo in Masaka; and John Mary Muhindo, 50, from Bwera in Kasese District.
Following the seizure, police called in the Mbarara City Council animal husbandry team to examine the cargo.
Dr Brian Ainomugisha, the Mbarara City Animal Husbandry Officer, conducted a postmortem examination and confirmed that the meat had not undergone mandatory veterinary inspections.
"I am taking samples to the laboratory for further diagnosis because we suspect potential zoonotic diseases that can transfer from animals to humans, putting public health at risk," Dr Ainomugisha said.
He advised police to collaborate with his office to safely bury or dispose of the carcasses, declaring them entirely unfit for human consumption.
DPC Kabwigo concluded that upon completion of the investigations, the suspects will be charged with livestock theft and the illegal transportation of meat unfit for human consumption, among other state-preferred charges.