Harare - SOUTH African security agents have intercepted four stolen vehicles totaling ZAR1.2million on the verge of being smuggled into Zimbabwe across the Limpopo River.
The vehicles - a Mercedes Benz C220, (Valued at R400 000-00), a Toyota Hilux Legend 45, (Valued at R268 000-00), ISUZU KB300, (Valued at R250 000-00) and a FORD Ranger 2.5, D/Cab, (Valued at R300 000-00) - were intercepted between Sunday evening and Monday morning.
“The continuous operations that are being conducted along the borderline, aimed at stopping the smuggling of vehicles and other stolen goods north of Musina, continue to yield positive results.
“The vehicles were on the verge of being smuggled into Zimbabwe when they were spotted at different points of the borderline,” Limpopo police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo is quoted saying by a Zimbabwean state-owned daily.
Mojapelo said “the suspects managed to evade arrest by jumping off when the police pounced on them”.
Vehicle trafficking syndicates smuggle stolen cars through the Limpopo River where donkeys are used to pull the vehicle across the river into Zimbabwe.
In July, 63 year old South African national, Willem Schalk Janzen-Roet was arrested and jailed seven years in Zimbabwe for trying to smuggle a stolen Landrover Range Rover into Zambia.
Late last year, a vehicle stolen in Durban was recovered by Limpopo police when thieves attempting to smuggle the vehicle into Zimbabwe tried to use donkeys to pull it across the swollen Limpopo River.
The vehicle‚ which was semi-submerged in the water‚ was spotted from a helicopter during an operation against vehicle trafficking.
