adminGeneral Mr Gershem Pasi disclosed this at a stakeholder breakfast meeting, which Zimra hosted on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair last month.
“We have now embarked on setting up a canine unit because we have realised that there is need to accelerate this process that we have had in our plans for a couple of years, but the issue of resources had been a stumbling block.
“We have realised that if we do not act now, not only is Zimbabwe going to be a major transit for drugs and other substances but will slowly become a user of those very harmful drugs,” said Mr Pasi.
The authority has so far imported 10 special dogs and is working in conjunction with local agencies who have expertise in training dogs for detecting various substances.
The dogs are currently undergoing training at a base in Harare while a further 44 are expected from South Africa to bring the total to 54.
This training programme is expected to take up to six months before the dogs are deployed.
The establishment of the canine unit is expected to complement measures already in place to fight smuggling such as use of scanners, border patrols, road- blocks in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, cargo tracking, risk profiling, and information dissemination.
Online Reporter