Zim cracks down on passport swindlers

THE High Commission of Zimbabwe yesterday confirmed international media reports that Zimbabwe is cracking down on people using false emergency travel documents for cross-border shopping trips between Namibia and its neighbour.

According to the Zimbabwean weekly The Sunday Mail, passport officers in the country recently took note of a crime syndicate based in Bulawayo, who apparently sell counterfeit documentation for trips to Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia. Although the Namibian Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ public relations officer said they did not know about the operation, an official at the Zimbabwean High Commission in Windhoek confirmed that it was true.However, the High Commission said the crackdown was more of a “routine thing” than a one-off operation.Nobody in Namibia has yet been arrested in connection with the claims, the High Commission said.According to a Reuters report earlier this week, 24 people were arrested and fined last week in Plumtree on Zimbabwe’s border with Botswana, after they were caught with false travel documents.The suspects are all thought to be part of “a broader syndicate”, the news wire stated.Although the Namibian Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ public relations officer said they did not know about the operation, an official at the Zimbabwean High Commission in Windhoek confirmed that it was true.However, the High Commission said the crackdown was more of a “routine thing” than a one-off operation.Nobody in Namibia has yet been arrested in connection with the claims, the High Commission said.According to a Reuters report earlier this week, 24 people were arrested and fined last week in Plumtree on Zimbabwe’s border with Botswana, after they were caught with false travel documents.The suspects are all thought to be part of “a broader syndicate”, the news wire stated.