Woman Tries Smuggling Cosmetics In Fake Baby, Arrested

Authorities in Uganda have detained a woman who tried using a dummy baby to smuggle banned cosmetics into the country. 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.

According to local news outlet Daily Monitor, the Authority's commissioner corporate affairs Ian Rumanyika said the arrest was made after they received information of this method of smuggling.

"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.

Pics of the unusual smuggling method generated amusement on social media.

According to the BBC, 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 can be damaging.