South Sudan National Security warns hoteliers against harboring criminals

JUBA — South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) has warned hotel owners operating in the country’s capital Juba against allowing criminals to use their facilities as hideouts.

NSS Director of Public Relations, David John Kumuri, made this warning yesterday after the agency arrested one suspect in one of the hotels in Juba in possession of a counterfeit machine and cash worth $111,000.

“My advice to hotel owners is to cooperate with security personnel and any suspicious things in the hotel, you need to report to national security service in public relation department or operation division,” Kumuri told reporters at Thursday’s press conference in Juba.

Kumuri called on the hotels’ owners to work cooperatively with the security agencies in reporting any suspicion to their office.

“We are fighting those who are trying to destabilize the economy of this country. I want you to take it from me that the national security service operation division is doing its best to confiscate all the machines,” he said.

He revealed that the search will continue to bring an end to the criminal network.

“We will arrest all criminals including those behind the scene whether being in the government or out of the government we will definitely expose them because we will not allow them to destroy our country and benefit at expense of others,” he said.

The director of information called on criminals who are still at large to surrender themselves before the security personnel goes after them.

“I want to warn criminals seriously that my brother you surrender yourself before we reach you because the operation will reach where you are,” he said.

He assured the public of national security readiness to shut down a network of criminals dealing in counterfeiting money.

“We have a lot of operations that are going on through South Sudan and we are going to apprehend all these criminals and South Sudan is going to be safe,” he said.

Last week, security personnel arrested 14 suspects with fake notes of 93 million U.S dollars and 400,000 South Sudanese Pounds.

The suspects – 12 South Sudanese and two foreigners – were caught during a crackdown by the national security operation division.