admin
Crime Reporter
ARMED robbers seized a haulage truck laden with 31,5 tonnes of copper in Chegutu and the horse was later found dumped at the 104km peg along the Bulawayo-Harare highway.
The trailer and the load are yet to be recovered.
The copper had just entered the country from Zambia when the criminals forcibly took it away from the driver last Friday.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations were in progress.
“The ZRP is investigating a case of suspected carjacking which occurred in Chegutu on April 15, 2022, where a Freightliner horse registration number ADC 2434 and trailer registration number HX45MBGP laden with 31,5 tonnes of copper from Zambia went missing.
“The horse was later found parked at the 104km peg along the Harare-Bulawayo Road facing the Harare direction without the trailer. Police observed a shattered windscreen, tampered ignition and some scattered clothes in the truck,” he said.
Since November last year, armed robbers have been targeting truckers along the Harare-Chirundu highway while another gang driving a Toyota Fortuner was “offering lifts” to commuters before robbing them of cash and other valuables along the same road.
They would offer a lift to unsuspecting people before attacking them and grabbing cash and valuables.
Investigations also revealed that the Toyota Fortuner normally moves around with three or four suspects targeting unsuspecting commuters, who assume the non-driving robbers are fellow passengers only to find themselves outnumbered when the full gang strikes.
The gang of robbers first attacked two truck drivers and robbed them of their clothing, US$500, 2 800 Kwacha and two cellphones after one of the trucks developed a mechanical fault at the 164 km peg along the Harare-Chirundu highway.
Meanwhile, the Fortuner gang first hit a 27-year-old Karoi woman and stole her cash and a cellphone worth US$416 after she accepted a lift to Harare. The vehicle had four occupants and has been used in several other armed robbery cases in Harare and Chinhoyi.
Earlier in the day, three robbers in a Fortuner attacked a 24-year-old man before stealing a cellphone, K500, US$35 and a bank card near Sunningdale Trust, Chinhoyi, along the Harare-Chirundu highway when he accepted a lift to Chirundu
Online Reporter