Dozens arrested over cross-border crimes in Tanzanian joint operation

Tanzanian police in collaboration with security organs in the eastern and southern African regions have arrested 46 people in connection with cross-border crimes, including drug trafficking, officials said on Thursday.

Gilles Muroto, the Dodoma regional police commander, said the suspects were arrested in a joint special operation mounted by members of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) and Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organization (SARPCCO) under the supervision of the international police (Interpol).

"The aim of the operation was to help control cross-border crimes," Muroto told a news conference in the political capital Dodoma.

He said the joint operation that started on October 4 through October 12, naming other local institutions that participated in the operation as Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO), the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), the Immigration Department and the Natural Resources Department in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

He said during the operation police seized 1,770 rolls of bhang, weighing 26 kilograms, a roll of heroine and 52 litres of local brew.

Other suspects were found in possession 61 different keys, tools used to break into houses and other local weapons, said Muroto.

He said some of the suspects were found in possession of five stolen motorcycles, two skins of leopard, three kilograms of wild animal meat, 200 pieces of illegally harvested timber and several bags of charcoal.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)