When it comes to smuggling stuff through security gates, some people hatch elaborate plans, only to get royally busted. Like?this Ugandan woman who thought she could outsmart authorities by smuggling illegal cosmetics in a 'fake baby'.?
Of course, things didn't go as planned.?
The woman had the dummy baby strapped on her back to resemble a real infant, but the security officials immediately smelt something fishy and stopped the woman.?
Officials from Uganda Revenue Authority shared images of the fake baby on Twitter, writing that it was intercepted on a bus at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.??
"We got information that some ladies were using a cover of carrying babies to smuggle in some contrabands which in specific are cosmetics," Mr Rumanyika said, adding that they found "one person who had concealed contraband cosmetics in a dummy baby". The woman was nabbed by Mpondwe enforcement.?
"On face value, it's a mother carrying a child on her back. In reality, it's a smuggler bringing in carefully concealed banned cosmetics from DRC," Uganda Revenue Authority wrote on the microblogging platform. While one photo shows a woman with the 'baby' on her back, another shows the dummy baby filled with cosmetics.
Reports state that illegal trade of many other items have become a common occurrence in between Congo and Uganda, with border authorities having a hard time tracking clever smugglers.?
According to reports,?most cosmetics smuggled into Uganda tend to be skin-lightening creams that were banned by the country in 2016 because they contain mercury and hydroquinone which are poisonous.?