Africa-Press – Zambia. A sophisticated multimillion crime syndicate in which copper concentrate laden on trucks destined for the international market is being exchanged with sand has been unearthed.
Quick action by a c 5 crack police squad in Lusaka averted an attempt by the criminals who had earlier hijacked a truck belonging to WHM Transporters with the 34 ton payload worth approximately US $800,000.
According to Spokesman of WHM Transporters Andrew Chileshe, the company noticed an irregular route pattern of their truck through their GPS tracking system which showed that their vehicle was parked in the Kabangwe area of Lusaka in an isolated truck yard.
Mr. Chileshe said he immediately contacted police who raided the yard and found people offloading the copper concentrate contraband and repackaging it into smaller 50 kilograms sacks.
He said the police team also found the suspects loading sand into the 2 ton bags replacing the copper concentrate and loading it back onto the WHM truck.
The driver of the WHM truck and the owner of the yard who they found supervising the reloading of the concentrate have since been arrested and are in police custody helping with investigations.
Another suspect connected to the crime is on the run in Ndola. A check at the premises which is a few meters from the Kabangwe Police Check Point found armed police officers guarding the copper.
Meanwhile Zambia Police Spokesperson Rae Hamoonga has also confirmed that police in Lusaka have detained a truck driver and two guards following a report that suspected armed robbers had attacked him and stole copper concentrate from a moving truck.
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