Zimbabwe: Two Cops Arrested Over Rifle Theft
17 August 2009



Harare — TWO policemen have been arrested for allegedly stealing two rifles and giving them to a suspected elephant poacher in Guruve, in a case that might shed light in the rampant killing of elephants for tusks in the Zambezi Valley.

Since the beginning of the year, poaching and dealing in elephant tusks has reached alarming proportions in the Zambezi Valley. The two an assistant inspector and a sergeant based in Harare allegedly stole an AK47 rifle and a 303 rifle from the National Armoury and gave them to the suspected poacher.

The suspect has since been arrested and is assisting police with investigations. Police confirmed the incident and said investigations were still in progress.

Although details were still sketchy yesterday, sources close to the investigations said the assistant inspector, who is based at the armoury, stole an AK 47 rifle and went to Guruve where he gave it to a poacher.


The poacher was expected to pay back with elephant tusks. It is believed that the poacher used the rifle to kill elephants and buffaloes.

A few days later the same poacher received a .303 rifle from the sergeant for the same purpose. Acting on a tip off, police raided the poacher's homestead and arrested him.

The two rifles, buffalo horns, elephant tusks and meat were recovered. The suspect was questioned and implicated the two policemen. They were tracked down last week, leading to their arrest.

In a related incident, two people were also arrested in Guruve on allegations of poaching and police recovered three elephant tusks and a .303 rifle.