Police have in their custody a female Burundian national said to be among the most wanted car thieves in the region.

Joseline Niyonzima believed to be in her early 40s was arrested recently in Remera, a Kigali city suburb following a Red notice from Interpol.

Niyonzima, who has been hiding in Kigali for several months, is alleged to have escaped from prison in Burundi.
Police spokesperson, Superintendent Eric Kayiranga confirmed the arrest.

Niyonzima whose real names are yet to be confirmed as she uses several different travel documents, is suspected to be the head of a ring of car thieves in the region who steal vehicles and sell them in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.

Her arrest comes barely a week after Rwanda and Burundi agreed to combat cross-border crimes following joint meetings that brought together Police Chiefs of both countries.

"This is therefore part of what we agreed on in the meeting,” Kayiranga said.

In a related development, police also arrested two other people over different crimes also committed in Burundi.
Blaise Kwizera, a Burundian is accused of attempted murder while John Aluma Savimbi, a Ugandan, is wanted by the Burundian police for allegedly stealing a tank-full of fuel belonging to SOCOPETRO, a Burundi based Petroleum Company he worked for.

It is alleged that Savimbi sold all the fuel he was transporting to Burundi from Dar-el-Salaam and staged an accident in Kayonza, Eastern province to conceal his crime.

He was arrested at Gatuna border post as he tried to escape to Uganda.

The duo together with Niyonzima were by press time still at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) offices in Kacyiru as they wait to be extradited to Burundi where they will answer charges brought against them.

Ends