The Aviation Police at Entebbe International Airport has officially handed over a decade’s worth of confiscated wildlife exhibits to the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The exhibits were seized between 2011 and 2025 during joint operations with UWA and other security agencies, includinging 6.017 kilograms of ivory, both raw and worked, 2,030 kilograms of pangolin scales, 114 kilograms of rhino horns, and 8.8 kilograms of hippopotamus teeth, animal skins, lion teeth, and ostrich eggshells among others.
During the handover exercise, Adam Kitatta, the SP Aviation Police, Entebbe International Airport was represented by the Superintendent of Police, Irene Mugoya who said that some contraband had been concealed in tins labelled as shea butter to evade detection, highlighting the sophistication of trafficking networks.
Katatta noted that no seizures of a similar scale have been recorded at the airport since the canine unit was deployed in 2018.
He thanked UWA for agreeing to take custody of the exhibits, citing limited storage space at Aviation Police.
According to the Assistant Commissioner, Law Enforcement and Operations at Uganda Wildlife Authority, Margret Kasumba, the handover exercise began on 19th, May, 2026, with joint teams from UWA and Police who confirmed that all exhibits were intact and accounted for after an inventory.
Kasumba, who also represented the UWA Executive Director, said disposal of the exhibits will be guided by law and the status of related court cases.
“When we receive the status of these cases from the police and court, that’s when we can know how to take proper custody. Are these still ongoing cases? Are they concluded? That will guide what’s next, or if we dispose,” she said.
Kasumba further explained that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) does not permit trade in contraband obtained illegally, saying, “For contraband obtained from illegalities, there is no other way of dealing with this apart from destroying it. A decision to destroy such is a management decision that can only be made at a level higher than mine.”
She added that CITES regulations allow trade only under strict conditions, such as products from natural deaths or problem animals removed through conservation interventions, and only if a species has been conserved to an agreed population level. “We are not saying we are going to be allowed,” she clarified.
Kasumba also confirmed that Uganda’s rhino population remains safe, noting, “We have never lost a rhino to poachers. So all the 48 rhino horns we confiscated were from other countries.”
“DNA analysis showed many seized products, including ivory, originated from West, East, and Central Africa. Uganda was being used as a transit route for contraband,” she said.
The surge in seizures began around 2011. Canine sniffer dogs were deployed at Entebbe International Airport in 2016. A 2018 consignment intercepted at the airport was described as a “test” by traffickers. Since then, no large-scale consignments have been detected, though small, high-value items have been found on individual travellers.
Kasumba credited the National Wildlife Crime Coordination Task Force, formed after a 2017 directive from President Museveni when Uganda was named among the “Gang of Eight” countries notorious for wildlife trafficking.
The task force brings together the Police, UPDF, ISO, ESO, Aviation Security, CMI, SFC, and other agencies. “His Excellency issued a directive to the effect that this must stop,” she said.
UWA will now determine next steps for the exhibits in line with national law and CITES guidelines.
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