Lithium smuggling suspect remanded over 720-tonne haul

A Chinese national accused of masterminding a scheme to smuggle 720 tonnes of unbeneficiated lithium ore out of Zimbabwe has been remanded in custody until Tuesday for a bail hearing.

MinMin Song (30), the finance director of Orequest (Pvt) Ltd, appeared before Harare magistrate Jessy Kufa on Saturday represented by lawyer Braine Hwachi.

The State alleges Song and her accomplices established an illegal lithium processing and dispatch operation in Ruwa, using fraudulent export documents to move the mineral through Forbes Border Post in Mutare to China.

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