The Sunday News
Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
TWO gold smugglers were arrested at the Plumtree Border Post while trying to illegally transport gold valued at $139 118 into South Africa. Tapson Maposa (25) and Fladreck Mapasure (32) of Harare pleaded not guilty when they appeared before Plumtree magistrate Mr Gideon Ruvetsa facing charges of dealing in gold without a licence and smuggling.
They were granted $100 bail and remanded to 8 April for trial.
Prosecuting, Mr Stanley Chinyanganya said Maposa and Mapasure tried to smuggle 15 gold buttons weighing 3,661 kilogrammes which were hidden in a secret compartment in their vehicle.
“The accused persons arrived at the Plumtree Border Post in a Toyota Avensis on their way to Botswana. Their vehicle was intercepted by police detectives from Minerals and Border Control Unit at the exit gate,” said Mr Chinyanganya.
He said police detectives received a tip-off that the two accused persons were on their way to South Africa to deposit gold.
Mr Chinyanganya said the police detectives then monitored the movements of the pair as they went through all immigration and customs formalities.
“The police detectives indicated to the pair that they wanted to search their vehicle for gold but they denied having any. The detectives insisted and Mapasure told his accomplice to show the police where they had hidden the gold,” said Mr Chinyanganya.
He said Maposa then opened the boot and showed the police a hidden compartment where 25 gold buttons were stashed in plastic sachets.
Mr Chinyanganya said the police detectives requested a gold licence and an export licence from the pair but they did not have any.
The lawyer of the two smugglers, Mr Jonathan Tsvangirai of Dube-Tichaona and Tsvangirai Legal Practitioners, asked the court to grant his clients bail as the State did not have a strong case against them.
“Your Worship my clients will not abscond trial as they are of fixed abode. Their passports have also been confiscated by the police therefore they are not likely to skip the country,” he said.
Mr Tsvangirai said his clients had indicated from the onset that they had been issued with a valid licence by Fidelity Printers.
“The State does not have a strong case against my clients as they are licensed gold dealers and they have documents to prove the legitimacy of their activities.
“Upon their arrest they pointed this out to the police who refused to entertain them and rushed to lock them up. Therefore my clients feel they have no reason to abscond as they have not done anything wrong,” he said.
The State was not opposed to bail.
Plumtree magistrate Mr Gideon Ruvetsa granted them $100 bail each.
Government recently set up teams to monitor gold production on a monthly basis as a means of curtailing leakages by ensuring that the mineral is channelled to Fidelity Printers for refining.
The country is estimated to be losing millions in gold leakages on a monthly basis as smugglers are taking the mineral across borders in search of higher prices.
The mineral is sold illegally in South Africa.
