Scores of ‘Illegal forex dealers’ arrested in police operation

By Andile Tshuma

Police have arrested a number of suspected illegal foreign currency dealers, popularly known as osiphatheleni, in an ongoing operation.

Last Friday, scores of women and men were arrested at the ‘World Bank’ near Tredgold building for engaging in illegal forex deals.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Acting Bulawayo Police Spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said police were working to bring sanity to Bulawayo streets.

Inspector Ncube could not disclose the exact number of illegal forex dealers arrested in the operation.

“We are still in the streets carrying out our work so I am unable to give the exact number of arrests made but I can just say more women have been arrested than men in this operation,” he said.

Insp Ncube advised people against hoarding cash and keeping large amounts of money at home. “We urge members of the public to desist from keeping large sums of money at home as they may be targeted by robbers and other criminal elements. People must also avoid engaging in conversations mentioning having money in the house as you may never know who is listening,” he said.

Insp Ncube said public support and understanding of police activities in the city was helping in fighting crime as more people were reporting criminal activities.

“We applaud members of the public for their continued support in our work as we strive towards realising a crime free city. Through cooperation with the police, members of the public last week enabled us to crackdown on a drug syndicate which has been supplying toxic substances to the public, mostly our gullible and vulnerable youths.

“We are looking forward to such engagements as it is the duty of every citizen to ensure that we rid our streets of all sorts of crimes,” said Inspector Ncube. The Chronicle