200 bombs found at SA, Zim border post

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Pretoria – The South African Revenue Service (Sars) says customs officials discovered 200 explosive detonating devices in a bus from Zimbabwe at the Beitbridge border post this week.

The cords, which contain explosives, could be used in criminal activities such as illegal mining and blowing up ATMs, among other things, said the revenue service.

Just before 10pm on Tuesday, a customs detector dog unit member was conducting a search of a bus which had just entered South Africa from Zimbabwe when he discovered detonating cords hidden in a bag on the bus.

The cords were wrapped in clothing at the bottom of the bag, which allegedly belonged to the conductor of the Zimbabwe-registered bus.

Sars said the SAPS explosives unit was called in and the 200 detonating cords were handed over to them.

The suspect was arrested and is in the custody of SAPS. 

“SARS will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that prohibited and restricted goods, such as explosives, are prevented from entering or leaving our country illegally,” it said. – SAnews.gov.za