After the long frequent embarrassment we get of having drugs smuggled through our airports only to be seized at foreign airports with young Tanzanians hoping to live the Tanzanian dream tarnishing our oh so lovely Tanzania Image, someone has finally come to the rescue to ensure security is tightened at JNIA. Transport Minister Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe!
Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe talks to Reporters
The minister called a press conference to address the narcotics business taking place at JNIA. He earlier stated that he would give names of the narcotic king pins who were responsible for this shabby transportation of narcotics with our young people via JNIA. He didn't however provide names of the kingpins but gave us something a good enough, the six airport employees who were invovled with ensuring the mules departed safely with their packages. Four security officers who are under the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), one police officer, under the ministry of home affairs and a porter were named for being responsible in the whole transportation process of the 'goods' via JNIAHe even narrated how two recent popular 'mules' who were caught in South Africa July 5th passed through JNIA Undetected! The whole 65 minute incident was captured via CCTV cameras .You can Read The Whole Scene Below
And Just days after Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe's surprise visit, 1 unlucky individual was captured.
“At 03:28am the CCTV cameras show one person tasked as a porter by the name of Zahoro Mohamed Seleman going around at the departure area posing as waiting for someone. The cameras also captured one airport worker, Yusufu Daniel Issa, for sometime going out of the passenger lounge and entering while communicating on the phone, which is prohibited for workers at the passenger inspection area,” The minister added that at the same time the CCTV cameras show the police officer, Corporal Ernest, hanging around the passport control section as if he was waiting for something. “At last, at 04:15 hours the cameras reveal two young females and a young males carrying a baggage of nine similar bags … the cameras further show Corporal Ernest busy assisting other travelling passengers on placing their baggage on the screening machine, which according to procedure is not his duty. Afterwards, the porter … Zahoro Mohamed Seleman … is seen assisting the would-be suspects to place the baggage on the screening machines and carrying the bags for rapping and then to the South African Airways Counter.”
The minister also stated that Yusufu Daniel Issa who was seen earlier busy communicating on phone replaced his fellow employee, Jackson Manyonyi, as a screener at the baggage screening machine, just few minutes before the nine bags were places there though he was had not registered on the screener’s logbook.
“At 0416 he (Issa) started screening the nine bags and he was through at 04:22 hours. He spent six minutes and then moved from the seat for Manyonyi to carry on. He had a word with Corporal Ernest and then he whispered to Manyonyi. Thereafter he went to the domestic departing passengers section while communicating on phone. All these activities went on the eyes of the head of the inspection section, Juliana Thadei who could not be alerted.
According to Mwakyembe, at the South African Airways counter three 20kg bags each were cleared but the passengers were supposed to pay $600 for extra six bags whereby every extra kilogramme costs $5. But, the suspects only paid $94 according to the available receipt.
The third suspect who is still at large and who acted handler for the two mules, Nassoro Said Mangunga, didn’t have a valid ticket to travel on that day.But, the handler changed his mind and decided to travel that day whereby he paid $60 as rebooking fee to validate his ticket.
But, according the Minister, though Mangunga didn’t have a valid ticket, still he was allowed to proceed to the check-in counter, which is a restricted zone.According to airport procedures, after all baggage are checked-in, the special trained dogs sniffed through all the luggage before they were loaded in the plane.But on that day, the dogs arrived late, said Dr Mwakyembe.Mwakyembe said for three passengers being in possession of 9 similar bags should have alerted the security officers at the airport and queries where were they. He therefore has directed the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS) to investigate how their officers responsible for sniffers were late. -The Guardian Tanzania
No comments:
Post a Comment