Police Arrest 3 Fuel Tanker Drivers For Smuggling 50 000l Of Diesel

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has announced the arrest of three drivers of fuel tankers over the smuggling of 50 000 litres of diesel through Chipinge.

A police report suggests that the police received a tip-off and intercepted the trucks leading to the arrest of the trio. Reads a police report seen by Pindula News:

On 24/05/22, Police in Chipinge swiftly reacted to a tip-off and arrested three fuel tanker drivers, Kenneth Nyamafeni (25), Walter Chigamba (38) and Danmore Kandiado (41) for smuggling approximately 50 000 litres of diesel through Southdowns illegal entry point.

Fuel theft is common among cross-border drivers. The most common strategy is to drain the fuel and then replace it with water.

In October last year, a 28-year-old haulage truck driver, Donald Daniel, was arrested for setting an empty fuel tanker on fire after selling the precious liquid.

He was arrested by detectives following a review of the vehicle tracker. It was alleged that Daniel drained the fuel from the truck in Kuwadzana and drove an empty truck to Chinhoyi where he allegedly set it on fire.

In November 2021, a driver of a foreign-registered haulage truck fled leaving the vehicle after it had been discovered that the truck was laden with an estimated 25 000 litres of water instead of 39 754 litres of diesel while destined for Zambia.

The incident occurred at Chirundu Border Post.

In 2017, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) started tracking cargo coming into and out of the country in a bid to curb transit fraud including cargo diversions.

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