STOLEN CAR SUSPECTS FIRE ON COPS

DANGEROUS:Luxury SA cars targeted for smuggling across borders

By  Frank Maponya

Car smuggling syndicate on the Limpopo River on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe are brazen and dangerous, going to the extent of opening fire on the country’s police – as happened on Wednesday.

In the latest incident, military personnel patrolling along the Madimbo area, outside Musina, spotted a Toyota Fortuner travelling at high speed towards the illegal crossing along with the South Africa/Zimbabwe border and gave chase. Police said as they tried to intercept the vehicle, the occupants of the car fired shots from what looked like pistols.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the soldiers returned fire and the suspects escaped towards the Zimbabwean side of the border. He said while the soldiers were trying to retrieve the Fortuner, shots were fired from the side of the Zimbabwean border allegedly by the same suspects.

A back-up was called and the military personnel managed to retrieve the car. During a mop-up operation by the soldiers around the area, police discovered two more cars hidden in the bushes. The cars were a Toyota Hilux bakkie valued at R400 000, a Volvo XC60 valued at R800 000, and the Fortuner abandoned by the suspects worth R430 000.

Mojapelo said the cars were handed over to the police for further investigations. They were stolen from South Africa and, like others stolen before but unrecovered, were geared to be smuggled into other countries through the crocodile-infested river.

In most instances, car syndicates use donkey carts to smuggle the stolen cars through to the other side of the border. On June 21, seven members of the South African National Defence Force were arrested for corruption after they were found to have connived with vehicle smugglers in exchange for cash. The military members had been deployed at the Beitbridge Border Post to defend and protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of South Africa between 2017 and 2019. But, instead of carrying out their constitutional mandate of ensuring national security at the borders, the soldiers reportedly demanded R15 000 per vehicle to cross into Zimbabwe, sharing the money among themselves thereafter.

They were arrested during an operation in the North West, Northern Cape and Free State.