3 South Africans held in Zimbabwe for smuggling sables

Police in Zimbabwe have arrested three South Africans who they say were trying to smuggle 29 sables across the border, state media reported on Sunday.

The official Sunday Mail said the animals were worth $348 000 and were being transported in two trucks from a conservancy in Zimbabwe's arid lowveld region allegedly towards an undesignated border crossing with South Africa.

They were arrested on Saturday when the trucks got stuck in mud near Beitbridge, the paper said.

"The South Africans had no capture and translocation permits and had no export permits for the sables. The only documentation they had was a movement permit issued by the department of veterinary services, Hwange office," national parks spokesperson Caroline Washaya-Moyo told the Sunday Mail. Hwange is nearly 700km from Beitbridge.

The report named the three as Edwin Hewitt, aged 49, Hendricks Johannes Blignaut aged 41 and John Herbert Pretorius aged 49. They are due to appear in court this week.