Zimbabwe’s Department of Immigration’s Compliance and Enforcement unit on Thursday intercepted twenty-five (25) Malawian nationals at the Beitbridge border crossing.
The immigrants were apprehended around aboard an Intercity bus en route to South Africa after skipping the border into Zimbabwe through Nyamapanda.
Among those arrested, 16 had unstamped passports while the rest were undocumented.
Acting Regional Immigration Officer (ARIO) in charge of Beitbridge Trustworth Manatsire confirmed the interception at a local service station. He said:
“We have since handed the group to the police pending further investigations and prosecution.”
“As a department, we want to warn syndicates involved in this human smuggling activity that they will face the full wrath of the law. We are not relenting.”
Over 100 Malawians have been intercepted in the last two months illegally attempting to cross into Zimbabwe from South Africa or vice versa.
Security sources said the interception was part of the clampdown on border jumping and human smuggling along the boundary with South Africa.
Syndicates in the three countries facilitate the illegal movement and authorities are concerned over the irregular movements and spread of Coronavirus across the region
