[Insanity is the order of the day in Zim. Jan]

Billions of dollars worth of maize-meal and sugar are being illegally exported to Mozambique daily, creating an artificial shortage of the commodities in Zimbabwe. Well co-ordinated syndicates operating on both sides of the border are sneaking the products into Mozambique™s Mangwe town daily where smugglers converge and load the contraband into trucks, buses and vans for distribution. The syndicates use illegal crossing points dotted along the border. An investigation by The Herald revealed that some transporters were moving an average of 30 tonnes of maize-meal and sugar – worth over $200 million – from the border every day. On average, a single Mozambican transporter in Mangwe, a small settlement that now resembles a maize-meal and sugar depot, carries five tonnes of the Parlenta and Silo maize meal brands smuggled from Zimbabwe. Smuggling has become an industry in Mutare and Mangwe with thousands of people on both sides of the border literally living on it. Buses with trailers and commuter omnibuses carry smaller consignments. Houses in Mangwe have been turned into warehouses where smugglers stock their illegal imports before forwarding them to Manica and Beira for sale.

One carton of sugar – made up of ten 2-kilogramme packs – costs $580 000 in Zimbabwe and fetches 300 000 meticals in Mozambique (Z$1,2 million), thus netting a profit of more than 100 percent for the smuggler, while a 10kg bag of maize-meal going for $130 000 in the country fetches more than $250 000 across the border. The profit margin for any contraband is well above 100 percent, therefore creating a lucrative market for smugglers. Ironically, trucks carrying maize-meal smuggled from Zimbabwe and truckloads of food aid destined for Zimbabwe are seen going in opposition directions as they pass through Mozambique™s Port of Beira. The contraband is carried through organised networks that use military tracks in mountains along the border and “merchants” involved in the illicit exportation of basic goods are making more than $20 million a day. The Herald reporter and a Mozambican guide, Jenito Antonio, disguised as vendors, took to the mountains to see how the smugglers go about their business.

The smugglers use a kiosk near a base – manned jointly by army and police officers who are stationed there to guard a pipeline – as a warehouse from where the maize-meal and sugar are distributed. This is meant to reduce the time and labour it takes to transport the goods across the border. Climbing the mountain with a load of contraband takes up to two hours. “I carry up to 90kg of maize meal and 40kg of sugar everyday,” said one of the smugglers. He said they begin smuggling goods at around 2am. More than 200 smugglers cross the border at least three times each day and they are paid $700 000 a day for braving the steep mountain, risking losing limb and life to landmines and the prospect of arrest. The people buying consignments of maize-meal and sugar use the official crossing point at Forbes Border Post and make their payments at the kiosk barely 500 metres from the border and then hand over their contraband to the carriers, known as “majorijo”. They then go and wait for the majorijo on the Mozambican side, where they either warehouse or forward their consignments to other towns.

On the mountain, they rest and hide some of their contraband in the bush, and the common meeting point for smugglers of all nationalities is on no-man™s land, where they believe neither Zimbabwean nor Mozambican security authorities can arrest them. The smugglers claimed they pay security authorities bribes to avoid being questioned. However, Manicaland police provincial spokesman Inspector Joshua Tigere said these were just a few misguided elements that were tarnishing the force™s image and said police were conducting intensive patrols to eradicate smuggling. He said: “I cannot deny or confirm these allegations, but members of the force who were involved in cases of bribery at the border were discharged from their duties last year, and we need to rid society of such elements. “It™s a cause for concern when we have food shortages here yet we are able to feed Mozambique that much through the illegal exportation of food,” said Inspector Tigere. “We are going to intensify our border operations and bust the smuggling syndicates.”

On December 2, police in Mutare confiscated 12 bales of used clothes that were being smuggled from Mozambique, and 550kg of maize-meal and other miscellaneous goods which were being taken in the opposite direction. The contraband was valued at $100 million. A truckload of maize-meal destined for Mozambique was also recovered two weeks ago in joint operations by the army and police. Since October 21, police have arrested 498 smugglers on Zimbabwe™s border with Mozambique, recovering 8 240kg of maize-meal, 2 000kg of sugar, 100kg of maize seed, 200kg of rice, 4 616 bars of soap, 21 bags of tobacco and other miscellaneous items. Of the 498 smugglers arrested along the border, 400 were Zimbabweans and 98 Mozambicans. Inspector Tigere said the quantities confiscated showed that organised syndicates were behind the smuggling. But police would work towards curbing the practice, he said. Zimbabwean and Mozambican police have made arrangements to patrol the no-man™s-land, which many smugglers are now using as a free zone where they can hide contraband and rest during their activities.

From The Herald, 12 December
By Tawanda Kanhema
Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com