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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Smuggling activities have increased along Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa and security officials have intensified patrols to curb the vice.

The two countries have closed the border to non-essential human traffic, leaving commercial trucks with access. But smugglers have found a new base along the porous Limpopo River which forms a natural barrier (border line).

Before the lockdown, at least 500 000 travelers from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique could access the two countries through Beitbridge. It is understood that there are more than 200 illegal crossing points which are being used to smuggle groceries into Zimbabwe and cigarettes into South Africa.

At the start of the lockdowns in the two neighbouring countries, smugglers would use some illegal crossing points between 50 and 60km on either side of the main port of entry.

However, in the last two weeks, the smugglers became daring and have opened an unofficial border 500 metres east of the main border. Last week the police arrested 35 people with an assortment of goods smuggled from South Africa. They were carrying groceries, fuel and drums. But the arrests appear not deterrent enough.