The Drug Enforcement Commission on the Copperbelt has arrested six members of an organised criminal gang believed to be responsible for circulating counterfeit United States dollars.
The Commission has jointly charged Twizzy Himaantu a police officer aged 53, Juliet Tembo a local court magistrate aged 53, Alex Kwibisa a miner aged 49, David Kalumbu a farmer aged 54, Fredrick Chilando a driver aged 36 and Edwin Mando also a driver aged 32. The six have been jointly charged for Possesssion of Counterfeit Notes (amounting to US $ 1, 031,200) contrary to section 358 of the Penal Code Cap 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
In a statement made available to NKANI, Public Relations Officer Hussein Khan said the suspects were picked up in a special operation conducted in Kitwe which also led to the seizure of a Toyota Spacio registration number AOB 727.
They are detained in lawful custody and will appear in court soon.
This contraband is part of the US $ 2 million in counterfeit notes suspected to have been smuggled into the country by this organised criminal network.
The Commission is concerned with the high levels of counterfeits in circulation and in this regard, it is calling on members of the public to be wary and not transact in foreign currency on the streets.