Zimbabwean police at the Beit Bridge Border Post have smashed what appeared to have been a well-orchestrated car theft and smuggling racket, when they arrested eight Malawian nationals for stealing five top-of-the-range vehicles to the value of nearly R4 million.

The vehicles were stolen from Durban and smuggled into Zimbabwe through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River.

The local police spokesperson, Chief Supt Lawrence Chinhengo, said the arrests were made last week, during an intensified border operation. “We received information from local villagers that some stolen vehicles were being smuggled from South Africa into the country. Acting on that tip-off, we then deployed our teams from the mounted unit, the dog section, the support unit and plainclothes officers to different sites along the river. We also sealed the major highways, arrested the eight Malawian nationals and recovered five stolen vehicles,” he said.

The recovered cars are two Toyota Fortuners, worth R600 000 each, two Nissan Navara twin cabs with a total value of R1.7million, and a latest model Toyota Hilux Raider, valued at R1 million.

Chinhengo said the first three suspects, Collins Muza (35), Jafali Mustafa (32) and Mohamed Idrus Laudon (28), were arrested on Thursday at around 20:00, following an ambush near the Limpopo River. Chinhengo said three more suspects, Aboo Benelo Jussabi (31), Lee Shas Ajiba (29) and Joe Khalid, were arrested on Friday, following the interception of their cars.

The other two suspects, Juma Afiki (34) and Abalu Kasimu (37), managed to escape but were later arrested.

The suspects were found in possession of fake SA vehicle registration documents, counterfeit temporary import permits of the stolen vehicles, duplicate keys and the tracking and locking systems had also been tampered with.

The suspects were using Zimbabwe as a transit point before later smuggling the stolen vehicles into Malawi through Mozambique. Chinhengo said the SAPS confirmed that the cars had been stolen. “We have intensified patrols along the Limpopo River and we are also working with our South African counterparts to curb cross-border criminal activities occurring along the border. We have since engaged Interpol to assist us with investigations, so that we establish the market of those stolen cars,” Chinhengo said.

The suspects appeared in court earlier this week on car theft and smuggling charges and the case was postponed to next Thursday (30 August) for further investigation. They remain in custody.

Chinhengo said the ongoing exercise also targeted human traffickers, border jumpers and armed robbery syndicates operating in bushy areas along the Limpopo River