Crimes and Court
BULAWAYO – In a brazen daylight robbery, three armed suspects made off with over US$18,000 and R151,000 from a bureau de change in Bulawayo’s city center on Wednesday morning after disarming a security guard.
The highly coordinated heist occurred around 8AM at Nkolozi Investments, located on the first floor of the CIPF Building at the corner of Jason Moyo Street and 9th Avenue.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident, stating:
“The three suspects walked into the complex and made their way to the bureau de change, pretending to be customers. They then unleashed a short reign of terror, attacking the guard and seizing his firearm.”
Commissioner Nyathi revealed that the suspects demanded access to safes, took a remote key, tampered with the CCTV system to erase morning footage, and confiscated employees’ cellphones before fleeing. He noted the precision of the operation suggests possible inside involvement, stating:
“We suspect this could be an inside job because of the precision with which the robbery was executed. However, I want to assure members of the public that it is only a matter of time before the suspects are apprehended.”
A witness at the scene described the terrifying speed of the robbery:
“It happened so fast such that there was no time to react. We were all shocked and temporarily immobilised by what was happening. I have never experienced such a scenario and it was really scary.”
The incident marks the latest in a series of armed robberies targeting cash businesses in Bulawayo. Last month, a foreign currency dealer was shot and injured before being robbed of US$4,000 and R60,000.
Police have intensified crackdowns on armed robbery gangs and warned businesses handling large cash sums to enhance their security measures. This heist follows Zimbabwe’s largest cash robbery in years—the US$4 million Ecobank heist in October last year—highlighting the growing threat of organized criminal syndicates targeting financial institutions.
Company officials declined to comment, citing ongoing police investigations.
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