Eight Malawian car smugglers arrested in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe police in Beitbridge have arresting eight Malawians car thieves and recovering five stolen luxury vehicles worth R4 million.
The cars were stolen from Durban in South Africa and smuggled into the country through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River. The officer commanding police in Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo, said the arrests were made between Wednesday last week and Monday during an intensified border operation code-named "Ibvani Madini", a local Venda term which literally means, "move out of the undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River".
"We received information from local villagers that there were stolen cars which were being smuggled from South Africa into the country through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River. Acting on that tip-off, we then deployed our teams from the mounted unit, dog section, Support Unit and plain clothes, to the various sites along the river. We also sealed major highways during which we arrested eight Malawians and recovered five stolen cars, which were smuggled into Zimbabwe," he said.
The recovered cars, which included two Toyota Fortuners worth R600 000 each, two Nissan Navara twin cabs with a total value of R1,7 million and a latest model of a Toyota Hilux Raider valued at R1 million, were stolen from Durban.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said the first three suspects, Collins Muza (35), Jali Mwsifa (32) and Mohamed Idrus Laudon (28) were arrested last Wednesday at about 8pm following an ambush near the Limpopo River.
"We arrested the first three suspects after their cars, a Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota Raider got stuck in the sand on the Limpopo River. They then informed us that there were other five suspects on their way and we again laid an ambush," he said.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said the other three suspects, Aboo Benelo Jussab (31), Lee Sha Ajaba (29) and Joe Kalidi, were arrested on Monday following the interception of their cars, a Nissan Navara twin cab and a Toyota Hilux Raider at a roadblock in Lutumba.
The other two suspects, Juma Afiki (34) and Abalu Akasimu (37) managed to escape. They were, however, later arrested after the rear tyres of their cars were shot at by police officers while they were fleeing from a roadblock.
"The two suspects managed to stop after one of our officers shot the rear tyres of their vehicles leading to their arrest," said Chief Supt Chinhengo.
The suspects were found in possession of fake vehicle registration documents, counterfeit temporary import permits of the stolen cars, duplicate keys while the tracking and locking systems were tampered with.
"We would like to believe that these suspects could be operating as a syndicate involving others in South Africa possibly those working in companies that deal with the installation of car tracking systems as those that were there had been disabled hence making it difficult to track the stolen vehicles," said Chief Supt Chinhengo.
The suspects were using Zimbabwe as a transit point before later smuggling the stolen vehicles into Malawi.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said they were now working with Interpol to establish the market in Malawi.
"We have intensified patrols along the Limpopo River and we are also working with our South African counterparts to curb cross-border criminal activities occurring along the border. We have since engaged Interpol to assist us with investigations so that we establish the market for those stolen cars," said Chief Supt Chinhengo.
He said the suspects would appear in court soon on car theft and smuggling charges.
Chief Supt Chinhengo said the ongoing exercise was also targeted at human traffickers, border jumpers and armed robbery syndicates operating in bushy areas along the Limpopo River.