Aviation Police hands over Wildlife confiscated exhibits to Uganda Wildlife Authority

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.

The handover exercise commenced on May 19, 2026 under the leadership of the Assistant Commissioner of Law Enforcement, Uganda Wildlife Authority.