Drug peddler slapped with a six-year jail term

A BULAWAYO woman who was arrested together with her husband for possessing an assortment of illegal drugs, including cocaine and cannabis, has been found guilty and sentenced to six years.

Lakin Lee Robinson of West Somerton suburb in Bulawayo, who had pleaded not guilty to the charge of dealing in dangerous drugs, was found guilty and sentenced to six years.

Three years were suspended on condition that she does not commit an offence involving dealing, possession or supplying dangerous drugs, for which upon conviction the offender will be sentenced without the option of a fine.

Lakin will effectively spend three years in jail. In sentencing her, the magistrate stated that Lakin was arrested together with her husband and that shifting the offence to her husband was baseless.

“There was overwhelming evidence that you dealt in dangerous drugs and you were working together with your husband who was convicted and sentenced,” said the magistrate.
The dagga will be forfeited to the State.

Her husband, Darian-Lee Kevin Lloyd Jackson (31), is serving an effective four years behind bars after two years were suspended for five years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence.

The couple was arrested on 13 July following an operation by detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics Unit in Bulawayo’s central business district.

Prosecuting, Ms Hazel Ncube told the court that detectives received a tip-off on 18 July at around 10pm that the couple was distributing cocaine and dagga in and around the city centre using a white vehicle, registration number AF1604.

“Acting on the information, detectives mounted surveillance in the CBD and identified the vehicle with the two accused persons inside,” said Ms Ncube.

Police approached the vehicle, identified themselves and conducted a search, recovering four sachets of cocaine weighing five grammes, 10 sachets of dagga, 10 sachets of cannabis gummies and three sachets of cannabis-laced sweets, hidden in various compartments.

Following their arrest, detectives conducted a further search at the couple’s residence, where they recovered a larger cache of drugs.

These included 41 sachets of dagga weighing 4.1 kilogrammes, five sachets of prepared dagga cigarettes, two 20-litre buckets filled with loose dagga, as well as additional cannabis gummies and sweets. In total, police seized about nine kilogrammes of dagga and 3.6 grammes of cocaine.

The dagga’s estimated street value is about ZWG$240,000, while the cocaine street value is about ZWG$165,400.
Ms Ncube told the court that the accused packaged the drugs into edible forms, including confectionery laced with cannabis.