Story by Parvel Makona
A 28-year-old man from Zvishavane has appeared in court facing two counts of unlawful entry following alleged rooftop break-ins at electronic shops in Harare, where gadgets worth more than US$36 000 were stolen.
Eddington Chitsvare was arrested after a month-long investigation into a series of burglaries targeting high-end electronics outlets in the capital.
The court heard that on April 13 this year, Chitsvare allegedly broke into Zacks Electronics after scaling the building and removing roofing sheets to gain access to the premises.
He is accused of stealing laptops, tablets, iPads and computer accessories valued at more than US$15 000.
Prosecutors further allege that on April 17, the suspect used a similar method to break into Spellbound Electronics, where cellphones worth over US$20 000 were stolen.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department reportedly tracked Chitsvare to Zvishavane, leading to his arrest on Sunday.
Police recovered 12 of the stolen cellphones and a laptop during the operation.
Chitsvare was remanded in custody and is expected back in court on May 21 for a bail application.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old Harare woman has appeared in court facing three counts of human trafficking after allegedly bringing three children, including two eight-month-old infants, into Zimbabwe from South Africa illegally.
The court heard that police received a tip-off on May 16 regarding the presence of the children, suspected to be South African nationals, at a house in Mufakose.
Police reportedly raided the property the following day, where the woman allegedly failed to produce identification documents or legal papers for the children.
She was remanded in custody following her court appearance on Tuesday.
