Maize smugglers hand themselves to police
At least 23 people have handed themselves to police, claiming to be owners of the 51 trucks impounded in Karonga and Chitipa for attempting to smuggle maize to Zambia and Tanzania.
The police believe there is a syndicate of Malawians and foreigners to externalise the country’s maize and that the 51 trucks were part of the vehicles used to transport the grain from Central and Southern regions, in particular Lilongwe and Blantyre, to Chitipa and Karonga which have porous borders.
Soon after police impounded the trucks and detained the drivers for questioning, the police asked owners of the vehicles to handover themselves.
Chitipa Police Station spokesperson Gladwell Simwaka said they arrested seven people who claim to be owners of the maize loaded in 21 trucks impounded in Chitipa. The suspects claim to have bought the maize from vendors in Kasungu.
He said the seven, who are in police custody, identified the maize as theirs, but denied the charge of attempting to export the grain.
The seven are Ezekiel Lwinga, 38, of Mkombanyama Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwabulambia, Chitipa; Alick Chikwasa, 37, of Mulinga Village, T/A Chadza, Lilongwe; Kelvin Kawenga, 36, and Christopher Alibaba, 32, both of Chinoko Village, T/A Chimutu, Lilongwe; Austine Mwalwayo, 37, of Mwafilaso Village, T/A Kyungu, Karonga; Gift Ngwira, 35, of Mlare, Kyungu, Karonga; and William Siwila, 32, of Ishalikira Village, T/A Mwabulambia, Chitipa, appeared before Chitipa Magistrate’s Court where they denied the charge and are expected to appear again on April 10 when the court will rule on whether they have a case to answer.
“There is one who is claiming to be the owner of maize in eight trucks and there is another one who is claiming seven trucks, another one is claiming two while the rest are claiming a truck each.
“They handed themselves in to police after we impounded the trucks and detained the drivers. Of course, some happen to have been drivers too. So, those drivers that were not owners have been set free since the owners have come forward to claim the maize
“The suspects have started appearing before court but they have all denied the charge of attempting to export maize. The court adjourned the matter to April 10 when it will rule on whether they have a case to answer,” said Simwaka.
Karonga Police spokesperson Enock Livason said 16 people claimed to be owners of the maize impounded in 20 trucks in the district. Like in Chitipa, the owners came forward which resulted in the drivers being set free.
Of the 16 that claim to be owners, seven have already appeared in court and have been released on bail while the rest are still in custody.
Attempts to get their identities proved futile as we went to press.
