POLICE have arrested 581 people for illegally crossing the country’s borders over the weekend.
The highest numbers of arrests were made at the country’s busiest border post — Beitbridge — which separates Zimbabwe and South Africa, where 557 people were apprehended for different immigration law violations.
Seven people were arrested at Nyamapanda Border Post, 11 people were caught attempting to cross Rimai, while two travellers were arrested at Chirundu for illegal crossing.
National police spokesperson Paul Nyathi, pictured, said police were working with other security services, including the army, in this joint operation.
He said more than 400 people were on Sunday arrested for cross border crimes, including smuggling of goods, bringing the total number of arrests to 81 519 since the beginning of this year. The joint operation between police and the army has been ongoing since January 2021 dubbed “No to cross border crimes”.
“The Zimbabwe Republic Police and other security services arrested 581 suspects on December 18, 2021 for illegally crossing the country’s border into Zimbabwe without following the laid out customs and excise formalities,” Nyathi said.
“551 arrests were made at Beitbridge border post, 11 from Rimai area, and seven from Nyamapanda Border Post. Four people were arrested from Zona area and two from Chirundu Border Post.”
Meanwhile, the number of people arrested for violating Covid-19 regulations has breached the one million mark, with 1 361 397 people having been arrested since March 2020.
On Sunday alone, 2 820 people were nabbed for violating Covid-19 regulations.
Some of the violations include not wearing face masks and violating the 9pm to 6am curfew imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic.
“The ZRP reports that 2 820 people were arrested on December 19, 2021 for Covid-19 related breaches countrywide. The cumulative number of arrests since 30 March 2020 is 1 361 397,” Nyathi said.
by Andile Tshuma
in BULAWAYO
