Police intercept 3 trucks smuggling chrome ore

Unprocessed chrome exports were banned in January 2022

Zim Now Writer

In yet another incident that might reflect the extent of minerals leakage out of the country, Beitbridge border police bust a smuggling syndicate after intercepting three haulage trucks carrying chrome ore estimated to be worth millions of dollars

The chrome ore loads, whose origins police were told were a mine near Mberengwa, were being smuggled as chrome concentrate.

The haulage trucks carrying the falsified cargo reportedly belong to a Zimbabwean registered transporter.

The export of raw chrome was banned by government in January 2022, while that of chrome concentrate is set to be banned in July to allow local beneficiation of the mineral.

Officer commanding Beitbridge police district Chief Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo referred all questions to the ground commander of security officers deployed to curb cross-border crimes, who was not immediately available.

The drivers of the trucks, when asked about their cargo by police, collectively said they were carrying chrome concentrate.

The declaration papers, which include the Bill of Entry E24887, falsified the cargo as 33 000kg chrome concentrate per truck.

Recently, another three trucks were also intercepted at the same border post, attempting to smuggle lithium out of the country.