ZRP smash cigarette smuggling syndicate

Beitbridge police have smashed what appears to be a well-organised smuggling syndicate when they raided a local businessman's homestead in Tshapfutshe village and recovered more than 1 000 boxes of an assortment of export quality cigarettes worth R3,1million.

The consignment was hidden inside five huts, which were being used as warehouses to store the cigarettes haul while waiting to be smuggled into South Africa through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River.

The officer commanding police in Beitbridge District, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo, confirmed the incident, saying they found 1 081 boxes of different cigarette brands hidden at Mr Edzisani Muleya's homestead following a tip-off.

"We received a tip-off that there was a consignment of cigarettes hidden at a homestead in Tshapfutshe. We then mobilised resources and teamed up with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and deployed our teams on Thursday evening under an operation code-named Sukani Emanzini (Move away from the Limpopo River)," he said.

Chief Supt Chinhengo said on arrival, the teams found a woman and two men manning the homestead while one of them was taking a nap on some of the cigarette boxes.

"We then raided the homestead and found 1 081 boxes of cigarettes hidden inside the huts and we also recovered documents containing a list of suppliers and names of people whom we suspect could be involved in the smuggling syndicate.

"We also arrested a woman at neighbouring Lutumba village while in the process of trying to remove 107 boxes from her homestead so that she could hide them somewhere.

"We also arrested the two security guards who were manning the homestead and they are in our custody assisting us with investigations while the owner of the homestead, Muleya, is still at large," he said, adding that they have since launched a manhunt for him.

Chief Supt Chinhengo said the ongoing operation also targeted border jumpers and criminals operating along the border. He said the exercise also involved their South African counterparts who are conducting similar border patrols on the other side of the Limpopo River.

When Chronicle visited the village on Thursday evening, Zimra officers and police were busy removing the boxes from the huts and loading them into trucks while armed officers from the ZRP Support Unit had cordoned off the area surrounding the homestead.

Several homesteads in the area had also been deserted.

The cigarettes were seized by Zimra and taken to the local customs warehouse.

"As police we would like to believe that the homestead has for some time now been used as a transit point by people involved in smuggling cigarettes into South Africa through the Limpopo River and we are continuing with our investigations as we suspect more people could be involved in the racket," said Chief Supt Chinhengo.

Of late there has been an increase in the number of cigarette smuggling cases occurring along the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Some of the cigarettes are smuggled out of the country through undesignated entry points along the crocodile infested Limpopo River while others find their way into South Africa through Beitbridge Border Post.

The State is also losing a lot of revenue through smuggling.

Recently, a 43-year-old Malawian truck driver and a Beitbridge man were arrested for teaming up before attempting to smuggle 262 boxes of cigarettes worth $26 200 out of the country through Beitbridge Border Post.

The cigarettes were concealed under a consignment of tea, which was coming from Blantyre in Malawi and destined for Johannesburg, South Africa.