Police impound bus with smuggled goods from South Africa

Police in Bulawayo have recovered smuggled goods from South Africa whose worth is yet to be determined.

They managed to recover beds, refrigerators, vehicle engines, washing machines, doors, door frames and other groceries from a bus along Khami Road on Thursday.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the recovery of the goods and called on members of the public to desist from engaging in criminal activities.

"Bulawayo Central traffic motorised patrol team was patrolling in the city on Thursday at around 4PM when they spotted a bus pulling a large trailer with goods loaded on top of the trailer. The police officers drove towards the bus and then  asked the driver to stop so that they could check if everything was in order and the bus driver ignored and continued driving along Khami Road," said Inspector Ncube.

He said police had to block  the bus driver's way at the Khami flyover forcing him to stop.

Inspector said the bus was then driven to Zimra depot where they discovered that the driver was in possession of smuggled goods.

"Upon searching, the following goods were found to have been smuggled and were forfeited by Zimra – a Ford Ranger engine, four new Samsung fridges, two bales of clothes weighing 90kgs each, four Defy fridges. We also recovered 11 radios, beds, six doors and six window frames, 10 new landline headsets, paint  and groceries," said Inspector Ncube.

He added that investigations are under way and that Zimra had impounded the bus.

"Police are urging members of the public to use proper ways when they are moving their goods from other countries into Zimbabwe and to always cooperate with police when they are doing their duties," he said.