During the targeted operation conducted on Sunday, January 28, Police and local leaders, acting on information provided by the residents, also seized four rolls illicit electric cables from a local hardware shop.

The owner of the hardware is still at large, Superintendent of police (SP) Emmanuel Habiyaremye, the Police spokesperson for the Southern region, said.

"Police and local authorities acted on a rip-off from residents about a man who had smuggled unknown quantities of electric cables into Rwanda from Burundi and delivered them to the said hardware shop, where they were recovered later and the supplier taken into custody" SP Habiyaremye said.

He was handed over to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) at the Busasamana station for further investigations.

SP Habiyaremye thanked the public for their partnership and ownership in fighting crimes and smuggling in particular.

He took the opportunity to remind the public of the importance of community policing and neighborhood watch in fighting and preventing lawlessness.