One of the nine Malawians who were recently arrested by the police at Beit Bridge for being involved in a well-orchestrated car-theft and smuggling syndicate was jailed for five years last Friday.

Eight others are expected to stand trial today (Friday).

Seven top-of-the-range vehicles stolen from South Africa and later smuggled into Zimbabwe were recovered from the suspects, following their arrest in August. The vehicles were being smuggled from South Africa through an illegal crossing point along the Limpopo River.

The seven were arrested in Beit Bridge town during a routine border operation along the Limpopo River.

Juma Charles Moyo (26) was convicted on his own plea of guilty when he appeared before Regional Magistrate Joseph Maveza. The other suspects are Aboo Bennelo Jussabi (31), Lee Shas Ajiba (29), Joe Khalid Kazembe (34), Collins Musa (35), Jali Mwsifa (32), Mohammed Idrus Laudon (28), Juma Afiki (34) and Abdu Khasim.

The suspects are all being charged with theft of a motor vehicle and also contravening a section of the Customs and Excise Act (smuggling).

Police recovered one of the vehicles, following a shoot-out with the suspect near Bubi village along the Beit Bridge-Masvingo road. The smuggled vehicles included two Toyota Fortuners, one Nissan Navara, two Toyota Raiders, a Toyota Hilux and a Toyota Corolla. The South African Police have confirmed that four vehicles were stolen from Durban, while a Fortuner was stolen in Limpopo Province.

Zimbabwean police have also engaged Interpol to conduct investigations about the vehicle market in Malawi.

It was testified that the cars would be driven across Zimbabwe, using fake registration books, vehicle identification documents, fake temporary import permits and ignition keys. It is understood that the suspects had been working in cahoots with employees of some vehicle-tracking companies in South Africa.