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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A 21-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested at the Plumtree Border Post while trying to smuggle 6,2 kilogrammes of gold worth $241,282 into Botswana. Alan Courtney Rory Mulil of Kadoma, who is employed as a mine manager at Big Boom Mine, appeared on initial remand yesterday before Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa facing charges of possessing gold without a licence and smuggling gold.

He was remanded out of custody to June 11 on $500 bail. Mulil was ordered to report to a police station in Kadoma twice a week, on Monday and Friday.

He was also expected to remain resident at his given address in Sabonabona area.

Mulil was represented by Victor Zvobgo of Mauwa and Associates Legal Practitioners.

Police detectives who searched Mulil’s vehicle at the Plumtree Border Post on Tuesday morning found two gold bars hidden in the car’s windscreen wiper compartment.

They conducted the search after receiving a tip off that Mulil, who was travelling to Francistown under the pretence of shopping, was actually smuggling gold into the neighbouring country.

Prosecuting, Stanley Chinyanganya said Mulil was arrested while driving a Toyota Hilux vehicle.

He said the alleged gold smuggler arrived at the border around 10AM and went through all Zimra and immigration formalities.

Mulil was later intercepted by police detectives from the minerals and border control unit while at the Plumtree Border exit gate who indicated that they wanted to search his vehicle for gold.

He said Mulil agreed but indicated that he did not have any gold as he was travelling for the purposes of shopping.

“During their search police detectives recovered a size 12 spanner at the back of the driver’s seat. They used the spanner to open the windscreen wiper compartment where they recovered two bars of smelted gold wrapped in brown cellotape,” said Chinyanganya.

He said Mulil was asked to produce a gold licence or permit to possess gold but failed to do so, leading to his immediate arrest.

Chinyanganya said Mulil also failed to produce a gold export licence and declaration form.

He said the gold had a total weight of 6,2 kilogrammes and was valued at $241,281.

The government set up teams to monitor gold production on a monthly basis as a means to curtail leakages by ensuring that the mineral is channelled to Fidelity Printers for refining.

The country is estimated to be losing millions of dollars through gold leakages on a monthly basis as smugglers are taking the yellow metal across borders in search of higher prices.

The metal is sold illegally in South Africa.