Vusumuzi Dube
Simba Jemwa, Online Reporter
NINE kilograms of heroin believed to be in transit to India were seized by Zimbabwe narcotics detectives from a 43-year-old woman at Victoria Falls Airport in 1 October.
Shaik Zeenat Khatoon Rafiq, whose nationality has not been revealed, was arrested for unlawful possession of 9.2 kilogrammes of heroin.
Detectives from CID Drugs and Narcotics in Victoria Falls were alerted that the suspect was in possession of heroin which she intended to smuggle to India. The detectives reacted to the tip-off and tracked the suspect to Victoria Falls International Airport.
According to the national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, Rafiq was scheduled to board an Ethiopian Airline to India via Addis Ababaia when she was found with the drugs stuffed in the lining of her travelling bag at the airport’s scanning point.
In a related incident, detectives from CID Drugs and Narcotics in Beitbridge reacted to a tip-off and arrested a cross-border transporter, Obvious Moyo (34) on 1 October after being found in possession of 50, 100 milliliters of Benylin cough syrup.
Police revealed that the cough syrup was found hidden underneath other luggage in a Toyota Hilux vehicle with foreign number plates. Further investigations by detectives revealed that the suspect is being used by drug peddlers to transport contraband from South Africa into the country.
Meanwhile, on the same day, police in Chipinge acted on a tip-off and arrested a self-proclaimed prophet, Paul Mashava (37) for unlawful possession of a python skin at his residence in Gaza.
Police recovered the python skin from the suspect’s bedroom, rolled in a plastic stashed in a tool’s box.
Assistant Commissioner Nyathi applauded the public for supplying useful information to the police. @RealSimbaJemwa
Bongani Ndlovu