LUSAKA, Zambia

Zambian police on Wednesday arrested four Chinese nationals and three locals for attempting to steal zinc oxide valued at more than $45,000, authorities said.

The shipment came from STL Mine Ville in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Lubumbashi Province and was bound for Singapore-based Trafigura Asia Trading, police spokesman Rae Hamoonga said in a statement from the capital, Lusaka.

The cargo was to exit the region via Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam corridor but was intercepted after security monitoring systems revealed the truck, a Scania bearing registration T731 ASM, had deviated from its designated route.

Hamoonga said police raided the location where the consignment was being offloaded and arrested the suspects.

“The suspects are currently in police custody, and the truck and its contents have been secured as evidence,” he said, adding that security agencies are working to combat transnational crimes such as cargo theft.