Five acquitted in drug trial

TWO civilians and three police detectives who had been on trial for allegedly dealing in 11kg of dangerous drugs with a street value of about US$1 100 have been acquitted.

Bulawayo Regional Magistrate, Mr Lungile Ncube, cleared Mgadi Dhlamini and Nomsa Magutshwa, along with detectives from the Drugs and Narcotics section — Njabulo Sibanda, Mgcini Mpofu and Frank Shumba — after ruling that the State had failed to prove its case.

In acquitting them, Mr Ncube said the prosecution, led by Mr Sehliselo Khumalo, had not produced evidence linking the accused to the dagga. He noted that there was no proof the contraband had been found in their possession.

Dhlamini’s lawyer, Nhlalwenhle Dube of Dube Legal Practice, told the court that his client had gone to a terminus to collect a stool sent by his neighbour’s friend in South Africa.

He insisted he was merely acting as a messenger and had no proprietary interest in the parcel. The prosecutor, Mr Khumalo, told the court that on 19 May 2025, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials at Beitbridge Border Post intercepted a green Toyota Hiace driven by a man named Amos Moyo.

“They conducted a search and found a blue stool, which was wrapped and stuffed with 23 cobs of dagga weighing 11kg. Moyo claimed the stool belonged to his colleague, Thaboluhle, who later told detectives he had been given the parcel in South Africa by a man known only as Mbonisi, with instructions to deliver it in Bulawayo,” said Mr Khumalo.

Police organised a controlled delivery and later lured Dhlamini to collect the stool at Old Luveve. He was arrested in the company of the three detectives. Dhlamini then implicated Magutshwa as the intended recipient.

Mr Khumalo said the dagga was weighed at Bulawayo Zimpost in the presence of Dhlamini and confirmed to be 11kg, valued at US$1 100.