Notorious house breaker arrested, 8 cases cleared

Between December 2025 and March 2026, a further 3 193 people were arrested nationally, with 2 113 taken to court and 493 convicted as part of the Government’s ongoing crackdown.

Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau

POLICE in Beitbridge have arrested a man suspected of unlawful entry into several houses where he stole electrical gadgets, mostly television sets.

Acting officer-in-charge Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Beitbridge Detective Inspector Stanley Muuya said Thobekani Mpofu (30) of Dulivhadzimu suburb has so far been linked to eight cases of unlawful entry and theft.

He said through indications they have recovered property worth US$8 000 against a total value of property worth US$16 000 that he stole around Beitbridge.

“We arrested the suspect on Tuesday following a tip off and took him for indications leading to the recovery of an assortment of television sets he stole within the town and various goods worth US$8 000,” said Det Insp Muuya.

“Further investigations are in progress and we are yet to recover more property he took to Mutare. Indications are that the suspect would conduct surveillance on most premises before pouncing on them as soon as the owners left or fell asleep.

“He would break doors and gates using a crowbar or bolt cutter and we have since recovered his tools of trade.”

Det Insp Muuya said more recoveries were pending and advised members of the community to secure their properties all the time.

The police officer said Mpofu would raid his victims’ houses even during the day and warned people against buying goods from strangers as they risked being arrested for receiving stolen property.

“At the same time, we want to thank the community for their continued support with valuable information as we continue to fight crime in our area,” he said.

Acting police officer commanding the district, Superintendent Philisani Ndebele said Mpofu had unleashed a reign of terror in the town in the past few weeks.

Supt Ndebele said they were rolling out anti-crime awareness campaigns around the district with the help of community leaders.

“We have seen a surge in unlawful entry and robberies in our policing area and hence we are being proactive and engaging the community,” he said.