Air Zimbabwe workers in human trafficking scam

LAX security at the Harare international airport is blamed for the thriving human trafficking scam

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By Staff Reporter

WORKERS at Zimbabwe's national airline smuggled tens of fugitives and asylum seekers onto London bound planes for huge pay-offs, reports said at the weekend.

Three Air Zimbabwe workers were recently arrested for helping two foreigners get onto a plane using forged South African passports, the weekly Standard newspaper reported.

Investigators say the two foreigners had paid out several millions of dollars to be shared among members of the syndicate before they were guaranteed passage through the security check-points at the airport.

It is feared scores of other people have been allowed passage through a similar system after Britain tightened the visa regime.

Police spokesman Assistant Police Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the two foreigners were from Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Air Zimbabwe employees were identified as Lindiwe Mugabe, Tawanda Shonhiwa and Ephraim Musarurwa. They all face charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Standard said its investigations proved the syndicate had been going on for several years.

“Zimbabweans and other nationals seeking asylum in the UK and fugitives running away from law enforcements agents would contact certain people at Air Zimbabwe for easy passage to the United Kingdom," the paper quoted an unnamed employee.

“The airline workers also helped their relatives without passports get free rides on the plane to the UK where they would claim asylum."

The ease with which security personnel have allowed the scandal to occur under their noses raise questions about the safety of passengers using the Harare International Airport.

In September 2001, terrorists hijacked aircraft to launch terror attacks against the USA.

Employees at the national airline said following the arrests, security at the Harare International Airport had been tightened.

But the director of Airports and Business Development in the Civil Aviation Authority, Jerry Ndlovu, said the breaching of the security wall did not mean that security at the airport was sloppy.

“All the security arms at the airport, including the Central Intelligence Organisation and police are always on high alert.”

The Standard said it had established that the two foreigners were on the run from Canadian law enforcement agents in connection with drug related offences and bribed personnel working at Air Zimbabwe to facilitate easy entry into the plane.

They flew from Canada to Johannesburg, South Africa, and hired a vehicle, which they drove through Beitbridge to Harare.

Sources close to the investigations said the duo abandoned the vehicle in Harare before contacting a representative of the syndicate at the national airline.
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