ADDIS ABABA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Federal Police Commission said on Sunday that it has arrested some 18 suspects in connection with illegal smuggling of armaments into the country as well as foreign currency outflow.
The arrest of the reported suspects by the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission came amid the East African country's recent allegation that armaments are illegally smuggled into the country, which is said to create a widespread impact on the country's peace and security situations, state broadcaster EBC reported on Sunday.
The Ethiopian government is also currently struggling to mitigate the ongoing foreign currency shortage, which has been crippling the country's economy in recent years.
Police on Saturday announced the seizure of more than 10 million U.S. dollars that was illegally smuggled out of Ethiopia over the past few days.
According to Zeynu Jemal, head of Ethiopia's Federal Police Commission, the illicit foreign currency notes outflow and smuggling of armaments are underway as part of a large scale hidden activity, which mainly aimed at crippling the country's economy as well as peace and security.
Jemal, who revealed the various activities Ethiopia's security forces are undertaking in order to tackle similar activities, also called on the public to cooperate with police.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, since he came to power in April this year, has been undertaking various measures in order to tackle the ongoing foreign currency shortage. He has also urged Ethiopians to avoid accumulation of foreign currency notes as well as to halt hard currency outflow.
