By Rex Mphisa
BEITBRIDGE police have arrested a local man believed part of a bigger syndicate of car thieves selling illicitly acquired vehicles from Zimbabwe and South Africa sold in Mozambique.
The arrest this week saw the recovery of a late model Toyota Fortuner from Mozambique Where it had been sold.
The arrest follows a viral video of the suspected gang member resident in Dulibadzimu High Density suburb explaining to some people how the car ended up in Mozambique.
In the video which circulated in most platforms at Beitbridge and beyond, the man suggests he had assisted some Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers to take the vehicle into Mozambique.
In an interview the officer commanding Beitbridge Police District Chief Superintendent Mesuli Ncube confirmed the arrest of a suspect and subsequent recovery of the subject vehicle now held as an exhibit.
It is parked right at the doorstep of the Zimbabwe Republic police (ZRP) office at Beitbridge.
“Four are outstanding and on the run. We have recovered the vehicle. We cannot say much because investigations are in their initial stages,” Chief Supt Ncube said on Tuesday.
“I can only say he is helping us with investigations as it is. The vehicle was recovered in Mozambique,” he said.
In the viral video the suspect confesses having a hand in the theft believed to have been in the centre of Beitbridge town.
“I have a hand in the theft of the car. I am involved in that game. It was taken to Mozambique. I did not go there but I handed to (name mentioned). We were facilitated by Major (name supplied) currently in Tanzania. He called some officers at the post to let us through (with the car). We did not pay any money,” he said.
“I am not refusing. I handed over the car and came back by motorbike, ” the suspect who appeared being held captive told his captors who laugh loudly in the background surprised how the army major in Tanzania would instruct someone on the ground.
“He called soldiers on the ground. I handed the over the vehicle to (name supplied) and came back,” he said, appearing subdued.
The video is believed to have been recorded in SA.
Sources close to investigations said the theft victim, a shipping agent known to the suspects alerted his friends in SA soon after the theft.
The victim had information from people known to have seen his car driven by someone well known in Beitbridge.
The army and police officers are deployed on several bases that are on the banks of the Limpopo and the suspect in the interview mentioned the name of a senior officer, a major, who facilitated the illegal export.
The frequency of how vehicles stolen, carjacked or used for insurance fraud in SA are smuggled through those bases is cause for concern.
Some villagers accused the soldiers and police of being part to the smuggling.
“It does not only involve soldiers from Zimbabwe but even those from South Africa take part. At times they hire our donkeys to pull the cars across the river,” said one villager.
Over the past decade, trafficking in stolen or illicitly acquired vehicles across South African borders has become a concern for police officials, not only in South Africa, but also within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a whole.
According to a recent research South Africa is the major source of vehicles smuggled within the SADC region according to Interpol statistics, the country accounts for between 96% and 98% of all vehicles acquired illicitly within the region.
These statistics are supported by the 1997 joint operation codenamed V4, which involved security agencies from Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
During a 12-day period, the V4 operations recovered some 1,576 stolen vehicles of which a total of 1,464 were stolen in South Africa.
Then the South African Police Services (SAPS) estimated that approximately 50% of all stolen or hijacked vehicles in South Africa are smuggled out of the country.
Interpol first identified the smuggling of vehicles within the SADC region during the latter part of the 1980s when these vehicles were used as a form of currency and exchanged for diamonds, gold and other precious mineral.
The deals have since gathered momentum with some SA nationals participating in insurance fraud deals.