BEITBRIDGE border police have reportedly bust a smuggling syndicate involving officials at major government enterprises (names supplied) and some Chinese companies.
NewsDay gathers that police allegedly intercepted three haulage trucks carrying chrome ore estimated to be worth millions of dollars being smuggled as chrome concentrate in what could just be a tip of the iceberg.
The trucks carrying the falsified cargo are said to belong to a Zimbabwean registered transporter (name supplied).
Government in January 2022 banned the export of raw chrome.
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, however, not immediately available.
NewsDay has, nonetheless, gathered that when police officers asked the drivers about their cargo the drivers collectively said they were carrying chrome concentrate.
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On the declaration papers, which include the Bill of Entry E24887 the cargo was also falsified as 33000kg chrome concentrate per truck whose final destination was China.
It is understood the drivers told the police that the origins of their loads were a mine (name supplied) near Mberengwa.
Exports of unprocessed chrome were banned in 2022 and from July this year exports of chrome concentrates will also be banned to allow local beneficiation of the mineral.
A fortnight ago three trucks were also intercepted at the same border post after attempting to smuggle lithium out of the country.