Police thwart attempt by thieves to smuggle car across river using donkeys

A vehicle stolen in Durban was recovered by Limpopo police when thieves attempting to smuggle the vehicle into Zimbabwe tried to use donkeys to pull it across the swollen Limpopo River.

The vehicle‚ which was semi-submerged in the water‚ was spotted from a helicopter on Friday by none other than provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Nneke Ledwaba‚ while apparently leading a high-density operation in Musina and Beitbridge.

SAPS

The vehicle was during an attempt to smuggle it across the Limpopo River to Zimbabwe.

“Yesterday [Friday]‚ the Provincial Commissioner spotted a vehicle being smuggled across the Limpopo River between South Africa and Zimbabwe while he was in the police helicopter. The unusual aspect of this crime‚ was that the suspects were using donkeys to tow the vehicle across the river‚” police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said.

“On noticing the police helicopter‚ the suspects abandoned the vehicle and the donkeys and fled.

“After a four-hour operation yesterday‚ the police recovered the vehicle from the river and discovered that it had been stolen in Durban‚ KwaZulu-Natal. The donkeys were unharmed and wandered off‚” Mojapelo said.