Chiadzwa diamond heist: Pair arrested

The unfortunate incident, he said, prompted three ministers and the national security leadership to convene an urgent meeting on how to curb future intrusions.

“Following this incident, three Government ministers as well as the command of the national security establishment held a meeting on Wednesday, 3rd of April 2019 at the

operations to review security ZCDC measures so as to avoid a recurrence of similar incidents,” he said.

Mr Mangwana warned the public against committing such offences, saying those caught on the wrong side of the law will be dealt with accordingly.

“Government takes the security of national treasures and assets seriously and will do everything in its power to ensure that these are safeguarded and proceeds therefrom applied for national benefit,” he said.

Since the discovery of diamonds in Chiadzwa, the area surrounding the diamond fields has been besieged by opportunists from across the country prompting the Government to deploy members of the security forces to keep them at bay and to ensure orderly mining of the mineral. A GANG of suspected robbers on Monday morning sneaked into Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company’s ( ZCDC) operating areas in Chiadzwa and entered a pit with ore that had just been exposed.

Police have since arrested two suspects.

Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana said investigations were still in progress to ascertain if anything was stolen.

“In the early morning hours of April 1 2019, there was an intrusion by a suspected gang of robbers into the operational areas of the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company,” said Mr Mangwana.

“The suspected robbers entered the pit where ore had been exposed earlier in the day. Two suspects have since been arrested. A full exercise to establish whether there was any loss and if affirmed then its level is underway.

“The people caught will be transparently prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and their accomplices will be pursued until every one of them is fully accounted for.”