Five in court over smuggling beer haul

 

Five men appeared in court after authorities raided a Waterfalls property and seized a suspected contraband beer consignment.

The arrests followed a tip-off alleging that a truck was offloading undeclared goods at a Harare property.

Kudzanayi James, Tatenda Mutare, 24, Lloyd Chidziva, 23, Oren Kaone, 32, and Rangarirai Chanda, 35, appeared before Harare magistrate Tapiwa Kuhudzai at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with contravening the Customs and Excise Act.

The State alleged that on July 3, 2026, members of the anti-smuggling unit acted on information that a blue rigid truck was offloading suspected smuggled goods at 89 Henley Drive, Waterfalls.

The informant alleged that the consignment included Guarana beer, Milk Stout, Heineken and Windhoek beer.

The operation resulted in the arrest of the accused, who were allegedly found securing the offloaded consignment at the premises.

During interviews, the men allegedly implicated a suspect identified only as "Chipaz", who remains at large.

The recovered goods were taken to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority BAK Storage Facility pending a physical inspection and assessment of the duty payable.

The matter was remanded to July 29, 2026, for further proceedings.