Staff Reporter

Zimbabwe entry/exit points are soon to receive a security upgrade as the Government is set to acquire drones in a bid to curb smuggling and other criminal activities.

A source from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) informed this publication that the Government decided to acquire drones which would be used for surveillance to curb smuggling.

“The country’s porous border posts will soon be under tight surveillance following Government’s decision to acquire drones worth US$2 million to patrol the borderline to curb smuggling,” said the source.

The same source further mentioned that the country was losing millions of dollars in revenue due to smuggling of goods which came through designated and undesignated entry points.

“The country has about 16 designated ports of entry where huge consignments of goods such as clothes, foot wear, fuel, motor vehicles, alcohol and other essentials are smuggled in to the country resulting in the country losing a lot of potential revenue,” said the source.

According to the source, ZIMRA, in conjunction with other relevant Government departments, was in the process of upgrading all entry points and CCTV’s would be installed to improve border security.

 “ZIMRA is at an advanced stage of setting up CCTV camera system at border posts and other strategic areas. The system will be directly linked to a loss control command centre at ZIMRA head office that will receive live feed from the border posts.

“ZIMRA is also devoted to enforce controls to avoid the importation of restricted or prohibited goods,” said the source.

Meanwhile, the upgrading of the security at border posts to curb smuggling would also deter drug smuggling into the country as this dovetails with the call by President Mnangagwa to put an end to drug abuse and smuggling.