Rundu
Two truck drivers from Zimbabwe caught with contraband cigarettes they reportedly tried to smuggle to South Africa via Rundu in gas/fuel tankers made a second court appearance here on Tuesday.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges when they appeared in the Rundu Magistrate’s Court.
They were originally to make their second appearance on July 8 but their lawyer, who wanted to formally apply for bail, made a U-turn. The pair was arrested last month after the trucks were stopped for inspection and police and customs officials discovered the illegal consignment comprising 1 130 boxes of cigarettes, worth N$11.3 million. The cigarettes were concealed in secret compartments in the trucks designed for the transportation of liquefied natural gas.
Both Lyson Malangiza (35) and Trust Marudza (46) were represented by a private lawyer who claimed he is not aware of the person paying him to represent the two but said he received a call from the unknown person claiming to be one of the suspects’ brother and he has been depositing money in the law firm’s account since then.
Christian Nambahu of Nambahu Associates was representing the two suspects when they appeared in court on two charges.
They face charges of contravening Section 14 (a) read with Section 1 and 91 of the Customs and Excise Act 20 of 1998 – non-declaration of goods upon entering Namibia – as well as contravening Section 6 (c) read with Section 1, 10 and 11 (1) of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 29 of 2014 involving money laundering. The two suspects said they work for a company called Cidrade Haulage which is based in Harare, Zimbabwe, and while they were in South Africa they were approached by Wiltrade 87 Pty (Ltd), which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, saying it was looking for truck drivers. The owner of the two trucks apparently said they were empty and that they should drive them to Harare and back through Namibia and they did not know there were cigarette consignments, as they were only in charge of driving. Other people were responsible for loading and off loading the trucks, the suspects claimed. The case was postponed to July 3 for the prosecutor general’s decision and the two are still in police custody, as they were not granted bail due to the seriousness of their case.
They appeared before Rundu magistrate Barry Mufana while Albert Titus prosecuted.