POLICE have arrested seven people and impounded 35 trucks in Kitwe and Chingola suspected to have been used in a maize smuggling racket.

Commissioner of police, Willies Manjimela said yesterday the maize, which was purported to have come from Tanzania, was destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Mr Manjimela said three women and four men were being interrogated by police officers and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) personnel who wanted to verify the authenticity of the documents for the cargo being transported.

And seven drivers of the impounded trucks were yesterday arrested and detained for protesting against police's advice to take the impounded trucks to a designated place in order to decongest the road.

Copperbelt police chief, Antoneil Mutentwa confirmed the arrest of the seven and said the drivers failed to comply with the directive to remove their trucks from the road.

He said police had since transferred the matter to the fraud department to carry out investigations of the alleged scam.

He said police would not release the trucks in question until investigations were over.

And Chingola District Commissioner, Toby Maliti said most of the transporters of the impounded trucks had photocopies of the documents they purported to have.