happiness ChikwanhaH-Metro Reporter
IS the heroin being seized in this country by our security machinery grossly undervalued?
When Indian businessman Gowda Nabin Chandra (61) was arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Sunday, his suitcase was found with 7.7kg of heroin.
He appeared before Harare magistrate, Taurai Manuwere, this week and was remanded in custody.
Chandra was on his way to Addis Ababa, en-route to India.
“The drug was also weighed in the presence of the accused and it recorded a total of 7.7 kilogrammes with an ESTIMATED STREET VALUE OF $6 160 000.
Using a rate of about $630 to US$1, this means that the street value of the heroin was about US$9 777. That would roughly be about US$1 269 per kg. Earlier this month, a Latvian man, Vitalis Kudrjasovs, was also arrested at the same airport and appeared in court over similar drug charges.
Kudrjasovs was also flying to India via Addis Ababa.
The recovered heroin weighed 8.7kgs with an estimated street value of $6 million. Using the same USD/ZWL$ rate, this means that the street value of the heroin was about US$9 523). That would roughly be about US$1 190 per kg.
A number of questions have emerged:
◆ Are these the average street value of heroin, around the world, today or it’s just a case of our miscalculation?
◆ Would a Latvian risk jail to come to Zimbabwe to smuggle heroin worth about US$9 523?
◆ Would an Indian businessman risk jail by trying to smuggle heroin from Harare worth about US$9 777?
The authoritative www.addictionresource.com website keeps addressing this.
So, if the average street value of heroin is around US$30 000 a kilogramme, why should we value it around US$1 190 to US$1269 per the same kilogramme?
The Spring Hill Recovery Centre even reveals that the street value of heroin can go as high as US$50 000 per kilogramme in some Asian markets.
The Havoscope website, which tracks the prices of heroin around the world, claims the average value in the United Arab Emirates is about US$165 a gram.
This means that a kilogramme, in the same country, would be around US$165 000. In South Africa, according to the website, the price is around US$35, which means that a kilogramme will be around US$35 000, which is in line, generally, with the cost in many countries. In February this year, a drug mule was nabbed at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, on his way to India, via Dubai. About 5,4kgs of heroin was seized and authorities said it had a street value of about R4 million, at an average of R740 740, per kilogramme.
Even such conservative estimates would dwarf the estimated street value of what is being seized in this country by a country mile.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter