Police recover 590 bags of stolen fertilizer
Police in Blantyre have confiscated 590 bags of Urea worth K12.5 million destined for Optichem in Blantyre but was diverted and sold in Thyolo and Dedza.
Soche Police Station senior superintendent Carolyne Jere said in an interview on Tuesday they were tipped off by Geofrey Amidu, who is country manager of Drum Commodities, a company that monitors movements of fertiliser between the transporter and the importer.
She said: “After we received the complaint that 600 bags of Urea were diverted, we launched investigations that led to the arrest of the driver of the truck, Matias Ngwenya, 35, from Zakaria Village in Traditional Authority [TA] Simulemba in Kasungu.
“He directed us to Patrick Mayeso Gala, 26, from Kasalika Village in T/A Chimaliro in Thyolo who bought some of the bags.”
Jere said Ngwenya also led the investigations team to Issa Bwanali, 35, from Kudemera Village in T/A Kaphuka in Dedza. These three are in police custody.
Explaining how they learnt of the theft, Amidu said they received communication from Optichem last Friday that one of their trucks did not offload 600 bags of fertiliser they got from Beira in Mozambique.
“The Drum Commodities official is still at large, but the three are in police custody,” he said. n
