Police at Beit Bridge made a breakthrough when they smashed an organised highway armed robbery syndicate, arresting 20 suspects.

The suspects include five men suspected to have recently severely assaulted and robbed a Jeppestown couple along the Beitbridge-Masvingo road in Zimbabwe. The couple, Mr Leon van Vuuren and his wife Marion, was, amongst others, robbed of two digital Canon cameras, valued at R20 000.

The officer commanding Beitbridge police in Zimbabwe, Chief Supt Nicholas Mawere, said the suspects were arrested on Sunday, December 16, in a pre-dawn raid in Dulibadzimu suburb, following a public tip-off. "We arrested the suspects linked to a notorious armed robbery syndicate involved in robbing motorists along the major highways," he said.

The suspects are linked to a recent spate of armed robberies long the Beitbridge-Masvingo road, which saw several motorists being robbed of their valuables and money at stopover points.

Last month, another South Africa tourist was also robbed at gunpoint of ZW$180 million, R3 000, an undisclosed amount in US dollars and a bag containing clothes by three men along the same highway. Suspects connected to that robbery were later arrested and have since appeared in court. Mawere said so far a total of 13 motorists have fallen prey to the suspects over the last two months.

He also warned motorists against parking their cars in lay-by points situated in bushy or isolated areas, following an upsurge in the number of armed robberies and muggings along the highways.

"We are saying motorists should desist from parking in isolated areas, but they should rather utilize lay-bys which are closer to business centers to avoid being mugged by armed robbers who have turned our highways into a menace," Mawere said.