‘Drug dealers’ stash 133 sachets under bed

TWO Bulawayo men appeared in court yesterday after they were found with 133 sachets of dagga hidden under their bed.

Patson Mapore (45) and Prince Sibanda (25) from Nkulumane suburb appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Mehluli Moyo, facing charges of unlawful possession of dagga.

They were remanded in custody to April 4.

Prosecuting, Ms Audrey Kufandikanwe told the court that on March 14 at around 8PM, detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) drugs and narcotics section, in conjunction with officers from ZRP Nkulumane, received a tip off that the two were dealing in drugs at their house in Nkulumane.

“Police proceeded to the accused’s house where they searched their rooms and recovered 133 sachets of dagga, which were inside a blue plastic paper bag stashed underneath a bed in Sibanda’s bedroom,” said Ms Kufandikanwe.

Upon recovering the dagga, the detectives quizzed Sibanda who immediately implicated Mapore and the two were arrested.

The consignment was seized and taken to the Bulawayo Post Office for weighing and it weighed 500 grammes with a street value of US$200.

Marijuana, popularly known as dagga remains a controlled substance in Zimbabwe, with strict penalties for those found in unlawful possession of the drug.

Recent studies done in Zimbabwe revealed that an estimated 7,1 percent of young people abuse drugs, with the most prevalent drugs being dagga, crystal meth and broncleer. Children as young as 10 years old are now engaging in drug and substance abuse.

In 2023, President Mnangagwa set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Drug and Substance Abuse to tackle the menace. Defence Minister, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri chairs the committee and is deputised by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe.