BULAWAYO – Six armed robbers pulled off Zimbabwe’s biggest cash heist in history on Thursday when they robbed a cash-in transit van of over US$4 million on a busy Bulawayo street.

The incident took place at around 3.30PM.

The Safeguard van had just picked up the cash in metal boxes from the Ecobank branch at the NRZ Building at the corner of Fife Street and 9th Avenue when men armed with AK47s quickly surrounded the truck and subdued the guards.

Afternoon shoppers took videos and pictures as the armed robbers who wore face masks and bucket hats casually loaded boxes full of cash onto the open cargo bay of a white Ford Ranger single cab vehicle which sped off on Fife Street towards 10th Avenue.

Police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said: “Initial indications are that US$4 million cash has been stolen. The manner in which this robbery occurred shows an element of an inside job or leakage of information.

“As investigations intensify, police assures the public that the law will take its course without fear or favour.”

The robbery scene is a two-minute drive and a block away from the Bulawayo Central Police Station.

Police sources told ZimLive that Central Investigations Department crack teams who are called for major crimes had no fuel for their vehicles “since a week ago.”

Police were interviewing staff from the bank and Safeguard late into the night on Thursday.

A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said: “We’re pursuing some leads.”

Another source said one of Zimbabwe’s seven most wanted criminals Elijah Vumbunu, who is from a crime family, had emerged as one of the main suspects.

Vumbunu is wanted for a string of high profile armed robberies, including the October 2022 heist in which a How Mine convoy carrying 11.9kg gold was ambushed near Bulawayo. Several suspects were arrested but Elijah and brothers Abraham and Tonderai Vumbunu made good their escape. Police say the brothers – originally from Bulawayo – live in South Africa and make forays into Zimbabwe to commit robberies.

ZimLive reviewed crime scene videos and pictures which showed the number plate of the Ford Ranger gateaway car. It has been established that the number plate on the vehicle – AGP2333 – in fact belongs to a Mazda Demio.

As the robbery was in progress, video also showed a uniformed police officer walking past the crime scene across the street in the direction of the Bulawayo Central Police Station. Police officers do not carry guns except when responding to robberies and violent scenes.

A man who claimed to be a manager at the bank told journalists moments after the robbery that the money stolen was closer to US$5 million.

He also volunteered information that there was a client who was banking US$100,000 right at the time the robbery occurred.

The stolen money was allegedly being taken to Harare from the Ecobank which is housed on the ground floor of the NRZ Building, Bulawayo’s tallest structure.

Witnesses said the robbers waited for the Safeguard security guards to load the money into their truck before appearing on the driver and passenger side windows with guns drawn.

The security guards were then disarmed and bundled into the back of their truck, as the robbers seized cash boxes loaded with cash.

The Bulawayo robbery exclipses the 2021 Gwebi River Bridge cash-in-transit robbery on the Harare-Chirundu highway when US$2.7 million was stolen. A bank employee was later arrested and jailed with his two accomplices after police established that he masterminded the robbery.