The police Anti-narcotic department yesterday raided Nile Discovery Resort beach, the venue for the Nyege Nyege festival and confiscated hundreds of shisha equipment from revellers and vendors.
The raid followed a directive from the commandant of the Anti-narcotic department, Tinka Zarugaba earlier in the day for police to arrest users, dealers and confiscate their equipment.
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A team of seven police officers stormed the resort and began confiscating the equipment, some of them full of hot charcoal as traders and users tried to hide them in the bushes.
While the order had been for arrest and confiscation, not even one of the dealers or users was arrested. However, about an hour before the raid, some of the dealers had already been tipped off by some police officers and hidden their equipment.
One of the dealers told URN on condition of anonymity that deep in the night, secluded places would be picked for smokers to use shisha. None of the police spokesperson could be reached for a comment as they were not picking their known mobile phone numbers.
Shisha was declared illegal after the enactment of the Anti-Tobacco Law of 2015, which restricts the use of tobacco and its products. Those found in possession of shisha are liable to three months imprisonment or a fine of Shs 480,000 upon conviction.
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Parliament legislated against shisha based on scientific reports showing that the effect of shisha was worse than that of cigarettes.
Popular flavourings of shisha include apple, plum, coconut, mango, mint, strawberry, blue berry and cola. Wood, coal, or charcoal is burnt in the shisha pipe to heat the tobacco and create the smoke because the fruit syrup or sugar makes the tobacco damp. The smoker uses a pipe attached to the heating equipment to inhale the tobacco.Â