Online Reporter
Kimberley Chitambara, [email protected]
Bulawayo woman sentenced to community service over drug possession
A 34-year-old Bulawayo woman has been sentenced to community service after she was found in possession of crystal methamphetamine and cocaine with a combined street value of US$7 350.
Doreen Matongo, of Makokoba suburb, was convicted on two counts of unlawful possession of dangerous drugs when she appeared before Bulawayo provincial magistrate Mr Richard Ramaboea.
She was sentenced to one year in prison, with six months suspended for five years on condition that she does not commit a similar offence within that period. The remaining six months were suspended on condition that she completes 210 hours of community service at Mzilikazi Police Station.
Prosecuting, Mr Milton Moyo told the court that on January 31, 2022, at around 8.30 PM, police detectives received information that Matongo’s house was being used as a drug haven.
“Acting on the information, detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics proceeded to the accused’s house. They identified themselves and conducted a search, which led to the recovery of three sachets of crystal methamphetamine hidden under the bed,” said Mr Moyo.
Matongo was arrested and the recovered drugs were taken for forensic examination, which confirmed that they were crystal methamphetamine weighing 10.980 grams.
Further searches in the same room led to the recovery of one sachet of suspected cocaine from the pocket of Matongo’s jacket.
“The substance was also taken for scientific examination and tested positive for cocaine,” said Mr Moyo.
The recovered cocaine weighed 0.3043 grams and had a street value of US$4 800.
The court heard that Matongo had previously been remanded in custody for about six months in 2022 while awaiting a forensic report in an earlier drug-related matter. She was later released due to delays in the finalisation of the required documents.
However, upon completion of the outstanding paperwork, detectives failed to locate her as she had gone into hiding to evade arrest.
Until the country gets tough with drug dealers, we are not going to win the war against drugs.