Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
The National anti-smuggling task force on Wednesday intercepted a Toyota Lexus LX570 worth thousands of dollars that was stolen from South Africa and smuggled into Zimbabwe via an illegal crossing point along the Limpopo River.
Two suspects believed to be part of a syndicate stealing vehicles and smuggling them into Zimbabwe for other destinations including Malawi and Mozambique have since been arrested.
The police officer commanding Beitbridge district, Chief Superintendent Mesuli Ncube said the two men were arrested at the Bubi roadblock just before midnight.
“The vehicle was reported stolen from South Africa. It was intercepted at the Bubi road block and the suspects will soon appear in court,” he said.
“Indications are that it was smuggled into the country through an illegal crossing point along the Limpopo River. Further investigations on the matter and the vehicle’s final destination were on going”.
The smuggling of vehicles has become rampant around the border line and the Government is losing millions of dollars in import revenue annually.
Indications are that most of these cars are stolen from rental cars in South Africa and are smuggled to Malawi and Tanzania via Zimbabwe.
However, several others find their way to the local car sales in the country (Zimbabwe).
