A coordinated security deployment on the evening of February 12, 2026,
led to the arrest of 27 people during an operation conducted across
Bulindo, Katuli Zone, and Buwate in Wakiso District.
The exercise, spearheaded by the Kira Police Division, began at about
8:00pm and focused on locations residents have recently associated
with drug use and related disturbances.
Police reported that those taken into custody are being investigated
on suspicion of possessing illegal narcotics. Officers recovered
items believed to be connected to the alleged offences during searches
in the targeted areas.
By Thursday, the suspects were still in detention as authorities
reviewed their files for possible prosecution, according to a police
update.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire
said the action was prompted by an observed rise in crime patterns
linked to substance abuse within residential communities.
He noted that similar operations will be carried out in other parts
of the division as part of ongoing efforts to improve safety.
Owoyesigyire explained that neighbourhoods once considered calm have
increasingly experienced criminal pressure, prompting law enforcement
to adopt more proactive interventions.
Police indicated that drug activity often precedes offences such as
muggings, break-ins, and attacks on pedestrians at night.
The decision to launch the operation in the evening hours, he said,
was intended to disrupt suspected gathering points before darkness
could be used to conceal unlawful activity.
Authorities added that beyond the arrests, the operation also aimed
to collect intelligence that could help identify those coordinating
the local drug trade.
Police recalled a 2024 case that heightened concern about safety in
the same municipality, when a woman believed to have been jogging near
the Kampala Northern Bypass was fatally attacked.
The victim, Agnes Nantongo, a manager at a fuel station near Agenda
Bridge in Kireka Ward, was found without personal identification or
a mobile phone. Investigators at the time suspected she had been hit
with a blunt object.
The incident deeply affected residents who regularly use the route
for exercise and marked the second attack on a female jogger in the
area within two years.
Law enforcement says continued operations are intended to prevent a
repeat of such incidents and restore a sense of security across Kira.
