SA Hawks to swoop on gold smuggling Zimbos

Crack South African police investigative unit -The Hawks - have been engaged to stem an increase in cases of Zimbabweans smuggling    minerals, especially gold into that country.

This follows the case of the Zimbabwean couple from Harare that almost succeeded in smuggling R6 million worth of gold bricks into South Africa before being arrested at the last minute.

Peter Meyer Spies (39) and his wife Elizabeth Spies (37) of Bluff-hill who were arrested on 9 May 2014 were yesterday each granted R50 000 bail and will appear for trial at Musina Magistrate court on 26 June.

Police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi says the couple's case has been handed over to the Hawks.
"We are still busy investigating them, the case is being handled by the hawks. They are in custody as we speak," said Mulaudzi.

Police were investigating whether they could be linked to other cases of smuggling of explosives and precious minerals into the neighbouring country.

Spies and his wife were arrested during a joint operation between the police and officials from the South African Revenue Service's (SARS) Customs Unit.

"A dog handler from SARS was doing his routine inspection when he spotted a suspicious looking black Audi sedan with a Zimbabwean registration number.

"The inspector then requested to search the vehicle and found a parcel wrapped with a black plastic bag which was hidden inside the arm rest compartment of the passenger seat," read a police report.

The revenue officer then alerted the police who opened the package and discovered six bricks of gold, with an estimated value of R6 million.

The couple was in turn arrested and the gold was seized by the police.

The incident comes a few weeks after two Harare men one of them a British national were arrested while smuggling  5kg of gold worth $212 085.92 into South Africa through Beitbridge Border Post
Richard Anthony Devlin (29) who is a holder of a British passport number 761268497 and resides at number 197 Brook Drive, Borrowdale and Mark Patrick Greenhalgh (34) of number 20 Grosvenor road, Highlands  were later cleared of the charges by Beitbridge resident magistrate Ms Gloria Takundwa.

There has been an increase in the number of Zimbabwe ans caught trying to smuggle gold into the neighbouring country.

Indications are that the smugglers are working with highly placed corrupt officials to milk the country of its mineral wealth.

Businessman and Zanu-PF chairperson for Bulawayo Central, Joe Chiyangwa, was in January allegedly assaulted and left for dead by members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) after allegedly unearthing a similar scam at Old Nic Mine in Bulawayo.