Insight

Tracing the invisible footprints in a smuggler’s life

“FIRST OF all, my real name is not to be disclosed in your story,” with a stern look and speaking in a heavy Kinyarwanda accent mixed with some French and Swahili, those were the first words of a ‘middle man’ in the trade of smuggling along Rwanda’s porous borders.  I met the well built man in Gisenyi on Saturday evening as he sipped on expensive liquor.  Dressed in a brown Polo shirt and a blue pair of jeans, he completed the look with a golden chain around his neck and an expensive Bulvgari watch on his wrist.  
Long haul trucks are some of the transportation methods used by smugglers. Net photo
Long haul trucks are some of the transportation methods used by smugglers. Net photo
Dean Karemera