Zimbabwean and South African police at the Beit Bridge Border Post have arrested 28 alleged criminals, among them smugglers and notorious armed robbers, operating in bushy areas along the Limpopo River.

Local police spokesperson Chief Supt Lawrence Chinhengo said the suspects were arrested between Monday and Thursday last week, during a joint border operation along the Limpopo River. “Among those arrested, five are known serial armed robbers. Twelve of the 28 have since been convicted and sentenced to between five and 10 years in jail,” he added.

“We also rounded up several touts operating at the border post where they swindle unsuspecting travellers of their money by masquerading as border officials and clearing agents,” he said.

Chinhengo mentioned that the operation was aimed at “restoring sanity along the border. We are aware that there are some criminals who commit crimes in either Zimbabwe or South Africa and then flee to either of those countries. Crime knows no international boundary,” he said.

The criminal hot spots include Dulibadzimu Gorge, farms and villages along the borderline and the bushy area near the Limpopo River spillway. Chinhengo said the exercise followed after concerns were raised by local residents and travellers over a surge in criminal activities around the border area.

In May, police from the two countries also conducted a similar exercise during which they nabbed 82 suspects, mostly criminals who were on the wanted list for crimes such as armed robbery, rape and murder. They recovered machetes, axes, iron bars and knives, which had been used in committing the offences.

According to a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) report, an average of 16 border jumpers are being raped and robbed every month as they cross into the neighbouring country through undesignated entry points illegally. MSF  has established sexual and gender-based violence clinics in the border towns of Musina and Beit Bridge. They mainly target in-transit truck drivers, commercial sex workers and sexually abused irregular migrants seeking STI treatment, trauma counselling, tetanus, HIV and Aids tests and anti-retroviral post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).