By Rex Mphisa
Musina:- FIVE soldiers from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), including a female soldier, and two undocumented Zimbabwean nationals, have been arrested allegedly for robbery of smuggled cigarettes found in their possession.
They are expected to appear before the Musina Magistrate’s Court Thursday, September 18, 2025 to answer charges of corruption, possession of illicit cigarettes, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and defeating the ends of justice.
The suspects, aged between 26 and 42, were arrested Tuesday, September 16, 2025, during a joint operation by the SAPS Limpopo Beitbridge Task Team and Military Intelligence.
The operation followed an incident earlier that morning at Artonvilla, along the first Malaladrift road near the Limpopo River, where suspects allegedly conspired, intercepted and stole a contraband of banned Zimbabwean cigarettes being smuggled into South Africa.
During their operation, some shots were reportedly fired, forcing smugglers to abandon 24 boxes of illicit cigarettes of which six boxes were later found hidden inside a temporary military base.
According to a media statement by SAPS, further instruments of crime including live ammunition and SANDF military regalia was recovered in Matswale, Musina.
Suspects led police to the discovery.