Security operatives in eastern Uganda have detained 12 suspects following a sweeping intelligence-led operation against criminal networks that reportedly fled the capital and resettled in Bugiri District, where they are accused of terrorising residents through theft, abduction and torture.
According to preliminary police findings, several criminal groups hunted out of Kampala have been relocating to upcountry districts they view as safe havens, rebuilding their operations and continuing their illicit activities far from the capital's surveillance.
Bugiri has become the latest flashpoint, with authorities responding to mounting complaints over the widespread destruction of public infrastructure and attacks on local residents.
Dawn-to-dusk operation
Michael Kasadha, the Busoga East regional police spokesperson, said the operation ran from 11:00am to 5:00pm on November 10, acting on intelligence reports and grievances raised by residents.
The raid targeted six suspected gangs spread across different parts of the district, among them the Soweto gang in Kikabala, Kapyanga Sub-County; the B13 gang in Busanzi Cell, Western Division; the Obama Street gang at Bugiri Bus Park; the 360 gang in Musongora Village; and the Namakoko gang in Nankoma Sub-County.
Security teams also searched three scrap metal dealers suspected of purchasing stolen government property.
Infrastructure under siege
Kasadha said the crackdown followed a string of incidents involving the vandalism and theft of public assets. In October alone, police recorded the destruction and theft of more than 25 water meters and taps belonging to the National Water and Sewerage Corporation.
That same month, roughly 200 metres of aerial bundled conductor electricity wires were vandalised in Namakoko Village, Nankoma Sub-County. In November, lightning arresters were destroyed at Imuli Government Primary School and at homes within Musongora Village.
Investigators further established that suspects cut and stole about five metres of copper cable running beneath a police closed-circuit television camera in Musongora, underscoring the brazen nature of the operations.
The arrests signal a widening effort by security agencies to track criminal networks that migrate from urban centres into rural communities, where infrastructure is more vulnerable and law enforcement resources are stretched thinner.
