By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Police on the Copperbelt have arrested two truck drivers for attempting to steal copper which they were entrusted with.
Police Spokesperson Esther Katongo said this is in a matter in which one of the suspects reported that criminals had hijacked a truck laden with copper blisters which he was driving after the said truck had a tyre burst.
Ms Katongo said the incident was alleged to have occurred between September 4, 2021 at 17 00 hours and September 5, 2021 at 04 hours.
She said the complainant aged 30, who is a driver of Tanzanian origin, whose names we have withheld, purported that he was attacked by four criminals as he was coming from Congo via Nakonde border proceeding to Tanzania with a truck laden with Copper blisters.
Ms Katongo said he said that when he passed through the Kalulushi Toll gate along Sabina Road, he had a tyre burst and that it was at that point when criminals hijacked the truck after tying him to a tree in a nearby bush but managed to untie himself the following morning and reported the matter to police.
She said the Police followed up the matter and managed to recover the truck from the bush near magazine dumpsite and the 30 blisters of copper not in any way tempered with and it was further established that there was no indication of a tyre burst as alleged by the complainant.
Ms Katong said further investigations have revealed that the complainant was not the actual driver of the truck hence police have managed to apprehend the actual driver from Kasumbalesa border.
She said Police suspect that the crime was connivance between the suspects and other persons unknown to sell the copper.
“Those arrested are in police custody and will appear in court soon. As Zambia police, we have observed through investigations that most reports on copper thefts from trucks turn out to be connivance involving people entrusted with the goods,” she said.
