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Zvikomborero Parafini
AN Indian businessman, who was in the business of exporting rice prior to his arrest in 2022, was yesterday slapped with a 15-year jail sentence for possession of 7,7kg of heroine.
Gowda Nabin Chandra, who was 61 at the time he was arrested, was sentenced yesterday by Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei.
He was convicted after a full trial.
Chandra had been in custody since 2022 when he was arrested after he was found in possession of heroine worth $6 million.
In passing the sentence, magistrate Ndirowei ruled that there were no special circumstances stopping him from slapping Chandra with the mandatory sentence of 15 years.
He ordered Chandra to pay a fine of US$5000 failure of which this will attract five years imprisonment and he will then serve 20 years.
Prosecutor Oscar Madhume proved that on October 23, 2022, police officers from CID Narcotics received information that Chandra was in possession of a navy blue suitcase, which had suspicious contents.
Acting on the tip-off, police went to the screening area where he had checked in for immigration and customs formalities at RGMI Airport to board Ethiopian Airlines.
He was summoned to the scanning point where his suitcase was searched and the police recovered the heroine, which was stuffed in the lining of the bag.
The contraband was tightly wrapped with brown adhesive tape packed in a transparent polythene pack.
Chandra was arrested.
A preliminary field test was carried out on the contraband in his presence and it tested positive for heroine.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter