South Sudanese authorities have seized more than 1,000 cars that entered the country illegally from Sudan.
Police spokesman Maj Gen Daniel Jastin told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that after the outbreak of war in Sudan, many cars entered South Sudan, especially the border areas of Aweil in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, the Abyei Administrative Area, Renk in Upper Nile State and Raja town of Western Bahr el-Ghazal.
Jastin explained that such a development is considered a cross-border crime that needs to be dealt with through the cooperation of the two countries, as stipulated in the memorandum of understanding between Sudan and South Sudan.
“Cross-border crimes, human trafficking, migrant smuggling and money laundering are some of the offences that the police agencies in East Africa cooperate on,” he said.
He said that a group of Sudanese traffic officers had arrived in Juba a few days ago and held a meeting regarding the vehicles that entered South Sudan illegally.
Jastin revealed that the Sudanese Police were in possession of an electronic record of the vehicles stolen in Sudan during the war, and warned South Sudanese against buying cars that enter the territory illegally.
The General Consul at the Sudanese embassy in Juba, Yahya Mohammed Osman, confirmed that several cars were stolen in Sudan. He praised the efforts of the South Sudanese police in seizing more than 1,000 Sudanese cars.
“Some Sudanese nationals who came here in Juba were surprised to see their cars on the streets,” Osman explained.
Earlier, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Sudanese Embassy in Juba, Jamal Malik, confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that the authorities in South Sudan seized 122 stolen cars in Renk and a large number in Aweil in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State.
He said that the South Sudan authorities issued a directive prohibiting the registration of any car from Sudan without the official permission.