Source: Inside Zim’s brazen wave of high-stakes cash robberies – herald
Emmanuel Kafe
Check Point Desk
ZIMBABWE is in the grip of a crime wave of high-stakes cash robberies that has left citizens and businesses reeling.
From quiet residential streets to bustling city centres, a shadowy network of armed gangs has executed brazen heists, snatching millions in hard currency.
Check Point delves deeper into the intricate web of these crimes since the beginning of 2024, leveraging open-source intelligence (OSINT) to uncover the patterns and tactics employed by these sophisticated syndicates.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has recorded over 30 major cash robberies, at least, according to data gathered by this publication in the past 18 months, with losses exceeding US$6 million, a conservative estimate given under reporting and unrecovered funds.
An escalating crisis
The scale of the crisis became starkly clear in May 2025, when a seemingly ordinary wardrobe in Harare’s Madokero suburb became part of the scene of an astonishing US$280 000 theft.
The unidentified 39-year-old victim’s decision to keep his life savings at home, rather than in a bank, represents a common trend among Zimbabweans, that of keeping large sums of hard currency out of formal banking channels, often due to mistrust of financial institutions or the desire to avoid transaction limits.
This incident, along with robbery involving large sums of money, diamonds and a safe, noted in the Safeguard Crime Reports of May 2025, paints a grim picture of rising risk.
Just last week, the nation watched in disbelief as four armed robbers brazenly struck a shop in the Harare Central Business District (CBD), vanishing with a staggering US$500 000 in cash and property.
The CBD heist is merely the latest in a chilling series of crime incidents.
From Harare to Bulawayo, criminals are becoming bolder, employing military-grade weapons, insider collusion and sophisticated tactics to steal millions in cash.
Recently, a Harare businessman, Mr Joseph Maruta, 40, lost a cool US$184 000 in cash and a firearm after thieves broke into his girlfriend Leoba Hunda’s house in Ruwa.
It even got colder this June again when a company director residing in Tynwald North, Harare, lost a firearm, US$12 000 in cash and other valuables when thieves broke into his home.
As if that was not enough, the following week, a director of a vehicle roadside assistance company, Road Angels, became the latest target in a string of violent robberies after armed intruders stormed his Mt Pleasant home and made off with US$13 000.
On May 10, 2025, a four-man armed gang stormed a Workington office on Coventry Road and subdued the guards, forcing their way in and making off with undisclosed sums of cash and oil.
Weeks earlier, on March 26, four armed intruders, wielding pistols and crowbars, tied up employees at Mukuvisi Woodlands before ransacking an office for petty cash and other valuables.
In February 2024, six armed robbers raided a financial services company in Belgravia and got away with over US$716 000 in cash.
The robbers attacked a gardener before breaking into the operations manager’s office, where they blasted a safe.
Residential homes have become prime targets too.
In November 2024, a Bulawayo family in Cowdray Park lost nearly US$26 000 to three armed robbers.
And churches, where the eighth commandment “Thou shalt not steal” is regularly preached about, have not been spared.
In May, daring robbers orchestrated a movie-style US$8 000 heist after pouncing on a security guard and congregant at a church in Harare’s Belvedere suburb.
A church in Marlborough was robbed of US$54 000 on November 5 last year, while another in Chinhoyi lost US$35 000 in July the same year when thieves broke into its offices and safe.
The audacity extends to fuel stations.
Last week, a daring robbery occurred at the Petromoc Exor filling station in Rusape, where four armed men made off with US$15 752.
In March this year, Bulawayo saw armed suspects, posing as customers at a Cowdray Park service station, discharging a firearm before stealing US$200. A day prior, two fuel stations in Bellevue were simultaneously attacked, with attendants assaulted and tied up for a paltry US$120.
More significantly, a Meru Service Station employee was robbed of US$127 000 on March 5, after collecting cash, though armed robbers were later arrested for a separate US$16 240 heist at the same station on March 8, with the money recovered.
Bank heists and cash-in-transit attacks
The most alarming trend involves sophisticated assaults on financial institutions and cash-in-transit (CIT) vehicles.
The nation watched in shock on October 3, 2024, when a Safeguard Security CIT vehicle was ambushed in Bulawayo, leading to the theft of a whopping US$4 million from Ecobank’s Parkade Centre branch.
Later that month, a CIT team lost US$20 000 to two audacious hitchhikers picked up en route from Beitbridge to Mutare.
One suspect, Kelvin Chisandako, was arrested in Mwenezi the following month, after his sudden display of wealth, including building materials and a US$9 800 car, raised suspicions.
Complicity from within is also a chilling reality.
In October 2024, two Raven Shield security guards, Marshal Siyamboko and Tonderai Sixpence, were caught on CCTV allegedly colluding with robbers, guiding them to a safe at Turnall Holdings from which US$5 866 was stolen.
The new year brought no respite.
In January 2025, three pistol-wielding, masked suspects stormed a financial institution booth in Beatrice, stealing US$3 500 and cellphones before locking the teller in.
Later that month, seven suspects were arrested in Harare after raiding a Southerton company, making off with a Nissan NP300, a safe containing US$12 000, and other valuables.
Arrests and breakthroughs
Despite the alarming frequency of these incidents, the police have not been idle.
Major breakthroughs have been made, leading to the arrest of key suspects in the robberies.
In February 2025, the ZRP announced the arrest of six individuals, including Richmore Munhundiyani, alias Dovi, linked to multiple robberies.
Munhundiyani himself was reportedly shot by his accomplices during a robbery near the Dema tollgate, Seke.
This gang was connected to a January 12 robbery in Mangwende village, Seke, where US$2 030 and two cellphones were stolen.
A meticulously planned operation by CID Homicide Harare detectives in October 2024 led to the arrest of eight suspects linked to a series of armed robberies.
Spencer Mapfumo (42), arrested on October 30, 2024, was implicated in a US$30 000 robbery at Dinwoo Investments in Workington.
Investigations revealed he had purchased a Nissan AD van with his share of the loot.
Five people were linked to at least six armed robberies between July and October 2024, including a US$4 000 theft from ZAOGA Church, Glen Norah A, and US$27 273 from Garfunkel at Charles Prince Airport.
In the same month, police arrested Bornwell Mukwasi (32), Clive Mudiwa (25) and Nathan Mudiwa (22) for the robbery of computers and accessories worth US$71 710 from Rhi Media.
The ZRP also reported two incidents in October 2024, where over US$68 000, five firearms and seven pepper sprays were stolen from a house in Habane township, Esigodini.
More recently, in April 2025, Charles Dhokotera (42) and three accomplices were arrested, linked to robberies in Mhangura, Shamva and Murewa between March 31 and April 21, 2025.
Their alleged crimes include robbing a general dealer in Murewa of US$1 300 and mine robberies in Mhangura and Shamva, where US$4 400, gold and cellphones were stolen.
Shocking statistics
The latest figures available to Check Point from the statistics agency indicate a worrying escalation in criminal activity across the country.
According to the latest “2024 4th Quarter Prison Admissions and Discharges Statistics report”, released in March by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), a huge proportion of new prisoners were admitted for specific types of crimes.
The report highlighted that theft was the most prevalent offence, accounting for 23,2 percent of new admissions; followed by assault, at 19,4 percent; burglary, at 8,6 percent; and “other criminal acts not elsewhere classified”, at 6,3 percent.
Robbery without a firearm constituted 5,4 percent of new prisoner admissions, rounding out the top five most common crimes.
While arrests offer a glimmer of hope, the sheer volume and value of stolen cash is shocking. National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi warned the public and businesspeople against handling large amounts of money.
“Naturally, money attracts criminals. Members of the public, as we always emphasise, should desist from keeping large amounts of money in their homes, on their persons or in their companies.
“It is unwise to do so, as some criminals are linked to employees who furnish them with information that can lead to robberies. Money should always be kept in banks. Rather, keep small amounts of money for incidentals,” said Commissioner Nyathi.
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