Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
Drug traffickers are increasingly exploiting the busy Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Road as a key smuggling route into the capital, prompting police to heighten patrols and checkpoints along the strategic corridor.
Several arrests and drug seizures have been made in recent operations.
National police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, confirmed the crackdown, saying the campaign against drug dealers and peddlers is ongoing nationwide.
Investigations indicate that narcotics are entering Zimbabwe through both illegal border crossings and legitimate ports of entry, sometimes with the alleged collusion of bus and truck drivers.
Recently, at a police checkpoint along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Road, Takudzwa Chingozho (18) and Irvine Sibanda (22) were arrested for unlawful possession of dagga (mbanje).
Three cobs of the drug were found in their vehicle.
In Beitbridge, acting on a tip-off, police arrested Ozzie Sibindi (45) and Kilet Sibanda (33) in a foreign-registered Toyota Quantum.
A search yielded 82 boxes of broncleer cough syrup and 38 boxes of benylin cough syrup, both unregistered medicines frequently abused as drugs.
Separate operations at the Beitbridge Border Post led to the arrest of Nyasha Mujongondi (38) and Charles Togara (39) for possession of astra pain cough syrup, found concealed in a cross-border bus.
In Chisumbanje, police arrested Siluze Ncube (24) and Cliford Mufambi (40) after recovering a stash of broncleer cough syrup at their homestead in Checheche.
In a major bust at the Maitengwe Border Post, police intercepted a Toyota GD6 and arrested Christopher Dube (41). The vehicle was carrying 228kg of mbanje, 293 boxes of broncleer cough syrup, 81 boxes of astra cough syrup, and 80 bottles of calcium magnesium tablets.
The Harare-Beitbridge Highway remains a focal point for law enforcement due to its high traffic volume and connection to regional trade routes.
Police continue to combat the trafficking of both traditional drugs like dagga and the illegal trade in addictive pharmaceutical substances.
