Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
A 44-YEAR-OLD Victoria Falls woman has been sentenced to three years in prison for unlawful dealing in dangerous drugs, while her co-accused was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Nyarai Churu (44), a resident of Aerodrome, Victoria Falls, appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Fadzai Dzimiri facing charges of dealing in dangerous drugs.
The State, represented by prosecutor Ms Audry Mukanganya, told the court that on 20 September 2026, at around 2PM, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officers were on patrol at the Victoria
Falls Border Post when they intercepted the co-accused, Elijah Nyoni (43), who was entering the border.
Ms Mukanganya said a search was conducted on Nyoni, leading to the discovery of a red and black satchel containing a black plastic bag with two large plastics of dagga, weighing 2,05 kilogrammes.
He was immediately arrested.
“The accused person number two then implicated accused person number one (Churu) leading to her arrest,” read part of the State’s case presented by Ms Mukanganya.
The court found insufficient proof to convict Nyoni.
In passing the sentence, magistrate Dzimiri said he considered the gravity of the offence.
The dagga, weighing just over two kilogrammes, was intended for dealing, a crime that carries a severe penalty under Zimbabwean law.
Churu was sentenced to three years behind bars. The recovered dagga was sent to Zimpost for weighing, and the weight certificate was produced in court as an exhibit.
There is an ongoing battle against cross-border drug trafficking at Zimbabwe’s major entry points.
While the State successfully secured a conviction against Churu, prosecutors continue to face challenges when relying solely on implicatory statements from co-accused persons without corroborating evidence.
