WALVIS BAY – The two men arrested in connection with the theft of a container loaded with copper made a brief appearance in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The two men, 42-year-old Micheal (Bossie) Narib and the 32-year-old Robert Mukwena, were informed that their formal bail application should be made today, as Mukwena is yet to apply for legal aid, while the lawyer representing Narib, Gerson Hinda was also not available for yesterday’s proceedings.
The two were arrested in connection with the theft of a container containing blister copper valued at N$2.92 million last week Thursday at Walvis Bay. They made their first appearance before Magistrate Andre Matulich in a fully packed courtroom, after spending the weekend behind bars.
Narib, a well-known resident and business entrepreneur at Walvis Bay, was arrested with Mukwena while loading the container on a truck in the posh Meersig suburb in Walvis Bay.
The acting crime co-ordinator for the Namibian Police in the Erongo Region, Inspector Erastus Ikuyu, confirmed to New Era the arrest and the recovery of the container on Sunday. He said the container disappeared in September this year from Walvis Bay port, shortly after arriving from Tsumeb Copper Smelters.
The shipment was destined for Belgium and disappeared alongside another container of copper that was destined for the Netherlands.
“It appears that the container was hidden in a bushy area at the time of discovery. So far only two suspects were arrested and we expect to arrest more people in connection with the theft as the search for the second container also loaded with blister copper continues,” Iikuyu said. The two containers of copper are valued at N$6.258 million.
According to Iikuyu a staggering 40 containers were also reported missing by Namport from the port, of which only 10 have been recovered thus far. He said containers were reported missing in September and October however some containers have been missing since last year.
The total value of the recovered containers is N$1.4 million while the total value of the combined 40 containers that originally went missing is said to be N$5.6 million.
By Eveline de Klerk