South African and Zimbabwean police and soldiers made a breakthrough when they recently rounded up a total of 2 708 suspects, among them illegal immigrants, armed robbers and smugglers, during a massive four-day joint operation along the Limpopo River.

SAPS station communicator for Musina, Const Debora Bob, said the suspects were arrested between Friday and Monday on both sides of the border along the river.

The operation was part of a bilateral agreement between security forces from the two countries. "We launched the operation upon realising that criminal activities continued to be a problem along the Limpopo River as several people, especially border jumpers, were being murdered along the Limpopo River by notorious syndicates operating between South Africa and Zimbabwe," said Bob.

She said two Zimbabwean men who were arrested during the joint exercise for allegedly smuggling diamonds have since appeared in the Musina magistrate’s court. The duo, Chrispen Muviengwe (27) and Peter Masvibe (44), were both remanded in custody until 2 August and no bail was considered for them.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean police spokesman for Matabeleland South province, Insp Tafanana Dzirutwe, said the joint operation between the security forces from South Africa and Zimbabwe was aimed at intensifying the fight against prevalent cross-border crimes between the two countries. "You realise that the joint operation is vital in that it closes in on loopholes created by international boundaries, as criminals normally want to take advantage of that and therefore, we have vowed to continue fighting criminal activities," he said.

The crackdown was also conducted in the border towns of Musina and Beitbridge.

Dzirutwe said they also intercepted more than 1 000 would-be illegal immigrants on the way to illegal crossing points along the crocodile-infested Limpopo River. "We also managed to arrest 1 024 Zimbabweans who intended to cross into South Africa through illegal entry points along the Limpopo River soon after they were deported through the Beitbridge border post," said the police spokesman.

Some of the illegal immigrants were intercepted while being ferried by local bakkies to the Limpopo River.

Of late, there has been an increase in the number of border jumpers crossing into the country through undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River, regardless of the dangers of either drowning or being attacked by notorious armed robbery syndicates operating along the river. They are overloaded into the local cars, most of which are not roadworthy, and ferried to the crossing points for fees ranging from between R500 and R1 000.