Fuel truck driver arrested

Source: Fuel truck driver arrested | The Herald

Crime Reporter

A 42-year-old fuel truck driver has been arrested in Chirundu on allegations of offloading nearly 40 000 litres of diesel in Zimbabwe after lying to authorities that it was destined for Zambia.

After offloading the fuel, the truck driver filled the tanker with water, which was supposed to be offloaded in Zambia after passing through Chirundu Border Post on the pretext that he was carrying fuel.

Abraham Mutakwa was arrested on Tuesday after he entered into Zimbabwe through Forbes Border Post where he declared that the fuel was destined for Zambia.

He is alleged to have offloaded the fuel in Zimbabwe and loaded the tanker with water before driving off towards Chirundu Border Post where he was arrested by alert security agents.

He is still assisting police with investigations. National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident saying:

“The ZRP urges the public to properly declare all goods entering and exiting the country. On February 14, 2022, police in Chirundu arrested Abraham Mutakwa (42) for contravening section 162 of the customs and Exercise Act, Chapter 23:02.

“The suspect who was driving a Freightliner Colombia truck, registration number ACE2957 entered the country through Forbes border Post with 39 660 litres of diesel destined for Zambia. At Chirundu Border Post it was discovered that the tank was loaded with an estimated 39 000 litres of water.”

In November last year, two Zimbabwean companies faced fraud charges after they allegedly brought into the country three trucks loaded with nearly 147 000 litres of petrol, paying no duty when they claimed the fuel was destined for Zambia.

The two are allegedly to have offloaded the petrol in Zimbabwe before trying to proceed to Zambia with empty trucks.

After offloading the fuel, the trucks were driven to Chirundu where the drivers tried to cross into Zambia, but their luck ran out when they were intercepted by security agents who physically checked and found the tankers empty.

The trucks, belonging to Bulky Energy Transport and Ellies TPF Transport, were impounded, while the drivers were assisting police with investigations.

Zimra recently said it was seized with capacitating its intelligence management unit and will continue leveraging technology and data matching to fish out fuel smugglers.