23 arrested in Zim cooking oil syndicate

Patience Nhamburo and Ralston Muchoko

Twenty-three people, including workers at a snack manufacturing company in Ardbennie, a suburb in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday for allegedly stealing cooking oil and selling it on the parallel market.

Owners of a house in Mbare suburb where the loot was stored were also arrested.

Cooking oil is key in the company’s productions. As such, the syndicate comprising factory managers and security personnel would smuggle huge quantities out of company premises in a truck.

Management had long suspected the rot and laid a trap.

Company manager Mr Anthony Musekiwa said, “I noticed the discrepancy: the quantity of product manufactured and that of oil used did not make sense. So I approached the police, and they spent the night hiding in trucks at company premises. The suspects were not aware of the trap and at night they proceeded with their usual plans. They fell right into the hands of the police.”

More details to follow……