Online Reporter
Beitbridge Bureau
A 28-year-old Harare man believed to be part of organised syndicates supplying dangerous drugs to high-density suburbs in the country has been sentenced to an effective eight years’ imprisonment by the Beitbridge Regional Court.
Blessing Matsikarima of Bluffhill in Harare was jailed after he was intercepted in Beitbridge in February while transporting 529kg of marijuana (mbanje) to Harare.
He was convicted and sentenced to prison following a full trial on Wednesday this week.
His alleged accomplice, Isaac Marume (30), was acquitted due to limited corroborating evidence.
Matsikarima will, however, serve an effective eight-year custodial sentence after trial magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa suspended two years of the initial 10-year term on condition of good behaviour.
Presenting the State’s case, prosecutor Miss Mercy Nyathi said that on February 26 this year, the two men were travelling from Beitbridge to Harare in a Nissan Caravan and a Toyota GD6, carrying an assortment of goods. Upon approaching a security checkpoint approximately 80km north of Beitbridge along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Road, Marume disembarked and approached security personnel on foot, enquiring whether he could pass through the checkpoint with groceries.
He was informed that passage would be permitted subject to standard security compliance checks. He then returned to the vehicles and advised Matsikarima to proceed to the checkpoint, where, upon arrival, he was stopped and instructed to pull off the road for routine inspection. As soon as Matsikarima was stopped, Marume, who was driving the Toyota GD6, voluntarily pulled off the road and approached Matsikarima’s vehicle. Police officers requested Matsikarima to open the vehicle for a search, but he initially resisted, claiming that the doors were faulty.
However, the two men later complied and opened the passenger door, allowing a search to be conducted, which led to the discovery of 32 bales of marijuana.
The contraband had been concealed beneath packets of spaghetti and Hello snacks.
Both men were subsequently arrested, and the marijuana, weighing 529,5kg and valued at US$52 961.50, was seized.
In response to the growing problem of drug trafficking and abuse, the Government has established an Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked with developing strategies and coordinating national responses to the menace.
Additionally, four Zimbabwe Republic Police Drugs and Narcotics Units have been set up at major border posts – Beitbridge, Victoria Falls, Chirundu and Mutare – to strengthen enforcement.
Modern technologies, including drones, are also being deployed to monitor the country’s borders alongside traditional surveillance methods in an effort to curb the smuggling and trafficking of drugs.
