By Desire Tshuma
HARARE — Police have arrested three suspected armed robbers in connection with a US$108,000 heist in Ruwa, recovering cash, firearms, ammunition, handcuffs, explosives and other equipment believed to have been used in a string of armed robbery cases.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), in a statement issued on Tuesday, identified the suspects as Tinei Makara, Pungurayi Mukumbachaza and Gabriel Mukambachaza, who are being investigated over several armed robbery cases in Harare and other parts of the country.
According to police, the suspects and their accomplices, who remain at large, allegedly raided a company in Ruwa at around 0030 hours on September 13, 2026, attacking and restraining company workers before getting away with US$108,000 in cash.
As the suspects fled, Tinei Makara was apprehended by workers after falling to the ground while attempting to scale the company’s perimeter wall. He was subsequently handed over to the police.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Mukumbachaza in Damofalls Phase 1, Harare, where police recovered cash concealed in his vehicle.
Gabriel Mukambachaza was arrested at his rural home in Rusape, where detectives recovered US$5,000, two pistols, including a Star pistol loaded with one round and a Tokarev pistol loaded with seven rounds, handcuffs, fuse cables, explosives and three balaclavas.
Police said the recovered Tokarev pistol had been stolen during an earlier armed robbery at a steel company in Southerton.
The trio is also being linked to at least four other cases, including a robbery at a beverages company in Rusape where US$39,828 in cash, a Star pistol, pepper spray, handcuffs and three cellphones were stolen, and a March 12, 2026 robbery at a steel company along the Harare-Ruwa road where US$14,118 was stolen.
Police said accomplices identified as Khule Diva, Mambo Dhuti, M Dongo and Senior Gama remain at large and are being sought.
The Ruwa case comes as the country faces a paradox in its crime fight. While overall robbery figures fell by 8 percent between January and August 2025, robberies committed with firearms rose by 4 percent, signalling fewer but more violent and organised attacks.
Harare remains the epicentre, recording 725 robbery cases in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, nearly double the second highest province.
The most serious case in recent years remains the Ecobank Bulawayo heist on October 3, 2024, the largest cash robbery in Zimbabwean history. Six armed men in a white Ford Ranger ambushed Safeguard security guards loading cash boxes outside the Ecobank branch at Parkade Centre, disarmed them and fled with between US$4 million and US$4.4 million in just 149 seconds in broad daylight.
Police later confirmed inside information was used and arrested three suspects, including Bhekani Mlilo and brothers Abraham and Elijah Vumbunu, in South Africa and Botswana with the assistance of Interpol.
Other major heists that have defined the trend include the G4S cash-in-transit raids along the Harare-Chivhu highway in 2021 and 2022, where over US$2.7 million was stolen, the US$334,000 ZB Bank cash-in-transit heist in Harare in 2021, and a US$500,000 robbery in Harare’s central business district in early 2026.
The pattern has also shifted to affluent homes and small businesses handling physical cash.
In Mandara in early 2026, robbers stole US$17,000 and a vehicle during a home invasion.
On September 14, 2026, businessman Tadius Rutanhi, (52) was shot dead near a service station along JMN Nkomo Street in Bulawayo after closing his shop, with his bag containing US$10,000 taken.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police says it is being hampered by serious resource constraints. Of 9,320 vehicles required for operations, only 1,823 are operational, about 20 percent of need, with over 1,000 grounded due to breakdowns.
Police have also warned that criminal syndicates are becoming more sophisticated, sometimes involving former security members, cloned high-powered vehicles and detailed surveillance of cash movements.
Private security advisories show that most successful breaches in 2026 occurred at premises without functional alarms and CCTV coverage, or where systems were not armed. Repeat targeting of the same businesses remains common.
Police have appealed for information that may lead to the arrest of the remaining suspects in the Ruwa case and the Bulawayo murder-robbery.
Anyone with information can report at the nearest police station or contact the National Complaints Desk on (0242) 703631.
The three suspects arrested over the Ruwa heist remain in custody pending court appearance and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.