(Ecofin Agency) - Ugandan Communications Commission (UCC), in collaboration with local police, conducted on January 20 an anti-telecom fraud operation that resulted in the arrest of 8 people. UCC reported it has also seized over 1,500 SIM cards and 4 SIM Boxes, in the areas of Masanafu, Rubaga division, Kasubi, Clement Hill Road in Central Division and Nakawa market.

In Masanafu, Rubaga Division, police found a SIM box, 545 SIM cards and caught three people. In Clement Hill Road, they got two people with a SIM box. At Nakawa Market, two more SIM boxes were seized with 32 and 1,024 SIM cards respectively, and one person was arrested. Two other persons suspected of providing SIM cards were arrested in Kasubi.

According to Ibrahim Bbossa, Head of Public and International Relations at the national telecom regulator, as a result of the tightening of security measures for the purchase of SIM cards, telecom fraudsters now purchase SIM cards from phone thieves.

SIM Box operations are considered one of the gravest offenses, according to UCC, costing mobile operators and the government hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.