A 29-year-old Zimbabwean, who wanted to smuggle stolen copper into South Africa, was shot dead following a shoot-out with police during which seven others were arrested.

Police also managed to recover the stolen copper, valued at US$18 000, which the suspects intended to smuggle through an undesignated entry point along the Limpopo River.

The local police spokesperson, Chief Supt Lawrence Chinhengo, said the incident occurred last Thursday at a bushy area near Bishopstone Farm outside Beit Bridge. “Our investigations indicate that a truck from Harare arrived in Beit Bridge, carrying a consignment of copper concealed under coal. The truck driver intended to smuggle the copper into South Africa through the Beit Bridge Border Post.

“However, when the driver heard that the truck would go through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) scanners for examination, he notified the owners and they hired three men, so that they could help facilitate smuggling the loot through an undesignated entry point along the Limpopo River,” he said.

The truck driver and three hired men then drove to a bushy area along the Beit Bridge-Bulawayo road where they offloaded the contraband. The driver drove back on the understanding that the trio would smuggle the consignment into South Africa. Two of the three men who had been hired to smuggle the copper then teamed up with another group to steal the copper from where it had been offloaded. This reportedly did not go down well with the other suspect and he alerted the police, who ambushed the suspects.

“When the suspects arrived at the scene, our officers fired a warning shot in the air, ordering them to surrender; instead, the suspects returned fire and one of them was shot dead,” he said.

Chinhengo identified the deceased as Joshua Muzenza, whose body was taken to the Beit Bridge District Hospital mortuary.

Chinhengo said they arrested seven suspects while two others armed with rifles managed to flee.

“We recovered 1.8 tonnes of stolen copper and seized a Toyota Corolla belonging to one of the suspects. We have since launched a manhunt for the other two suspects, who are still at large. We are also appealing to anyone who might have information that could lead to their arrest to inform us,” he said.

The suspects are expected to appear in court soon.