Philemon Jambaya
In October 2022, Shaik Zeenat Khatoon Rafiq was arrested at the Victoria Falls International Airport with nine kilogrammes of heroin.
The Indian woman, who was in Zimbabwe on a tourist visa, claimed she had been given the parcel by an unknown black woman she had been linked to by an online agent.
The source of the drugs was not stated but they were coming from South America.
Shaik is just one more than 10 foreign nationals caught with hard drugs worth over US$20 million at Zimbabwe’s airports between 2022 and 2023.
Three people traveling from Zimbabwe were arrested on separate occasions last year for drug possession on arrival in India.
The source of the drugs have not been publicised although an African of unnamed nationality was implicated as the owner of the drugs in one case.
In April 2021, Guilherme Sodre Da Salvia from Sao Paulo in Brazil was caught with 4.3kg of cocaine at the Robert Gabriel International Airport in an incident that came a week after another Brazilian, Caroline Silva Mafro of Santa Catarina in the South American country had been busted with 230 grammes of cocaine.
Zimbabwe’s growing international perception as a drug transit hub
Africa Organised Crime Index in its 2021 report says, “Zimbabwe is emerging as a significant inland transit country for heroin, trafficked from Tanzania and Mozambique to West and Southern Africa markets. Allegedly, the country is also a transhipment point for heroin travelling to European markets. The means of heroin entering Zimbabwe range from the drug being smuggled by returning Zimbabwean migrant workers to criminal networks using cargo shipments and drug mules to import the drug.”
The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, states a similar perception on their website: “Drug syndicates use Zimbabwe as a transit country, especially for cocaine and cannabis bound for the rest of the world.”
Interpol, is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. It is the world's largest international police organization.
In response to questions from Zim Now Zimbabwe Republic Police confirmed that they have recorded several cases of drug smuggling.
“In one of the cases, on March 27, 2023 police acted on received information and arrested Davison Gomo, 27, at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in connection with drug trafficking involving cocaine and crystal meth,” ZRP spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
Gomo had 21 Kgs of crystal meth and 1.2 kgs of cocaine concealed in metal pulleys. The drugs had come from South Africa and were destined for Manila.
Insight Crime in an investigation published in January 2023 identified several top drug reception ports, including Durban in South Africa, Pemba and Nacala in Mozambique, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania, Mombasa in Kenya, and Walvis Bay in Namibia to which Latin American drugs are delivered.
The investigation highlighted 14 countries in East and Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, as all being increasingly developed into international drug highways from Latin America to Europe and Asia with OR Tambo in South Africa and Bole in Ethiopia as the key airports being used as international drug transit hubs.
The trend where Zimbabwe is used as a transit route for drugs has put the country under the spotlight as its image is dented.
Travellers from the country will likely be received with suspicion in foreign countries. Some of the drugs may end up being consumed in the country.
Most of the named countries, including Zimbabwe, are not equipped to deal with the problem.
What are the authorities doing?
“In terms of security we have equipment designed for aviation though in the process we can detect some prohibited items. For drugs what we only have as airport are sniffer dogs. This is not enough to curb the supply of drugs because this equipment was installed for aviation and to protect travellers. Airports Company of Zimbabwe acting principal aviation security officer Christopher Chidodo said in May 2022 while addressing inter-ministerial taskforce on drug and substance abuse.
Speaking at the same occasion a security officer said that security at airports would be upgraded swiftly. “We will hit the ground running and implement some of the recommendations so that the security issue is improved. It is my belief that this issue of drugs is solved,” Commanding Officer 1.2 Infantry Battalion in Hwange, Lieutenant Colonel Fortune Melusi said.
In June 2022, Airports Company of Zimbabwe CEO Tawanda Gusha while commenting on security at the country’s airports, said that security had been upped but there were still loopholes.
“What we have done is that at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Zimra has put up a scanner on the departure route, which was never there so that they look at (suspicious) items. In addition, we have our own aviation security screening. We are also talking to authorities to say, let’s have even scanners installed on the main entrance,” he said.
The added security seems to have helped as some major arrests followed.
In October 2022, an Indian national Ronald Florentius Paes was intercepted with 7.3kg of heroin in his luggage at the RGMIA while trying to smuggle the narcotic to India.
A Nigerian pastor Desmond Onyii Ouoha was caught in October 2022 with 2,3 kg of cocaine at Victoria Falls International Airport after traveling from Brazil, via Addis Ababa. The drug was concealed in the linings of hats and jackets.
In March 2023, Devison Gomo was intercepted with 2kg crystal meth and 1.2kg cocaine at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, which he intended to smuggle to Manila in the Phillipines. Gomo was travelling from South Africa with the narcotics concealed in a consignment of 23 sealed metal pulleys.
71-year-old Hans Arne Ingemaar Peterson was also intercepted with 3kg of heroin at the RGMIA en route to Thailand from South America, in April this year.
While the arrests give confidence that security at exit and entry ports might be more effective now, it is clear by the unending arrests that drugs are still flowing into the country.
Gusha has said that security systems need to be strengthened.
“As aviation we are not trained to detect drugs, we implore the taskforce to spearhead training so that we are trained of drugs and machines. As an airport we are pleading to be capacitated with training and equipment to curb supply chain of drugs and use of this airport as a transit,” he said.
He also highlighted Victoria Falls Airport as being particularly vulnerable.
“This is actually a tourist destination which is different from Harare and Bulawayo and people might take advantage and use this airport as a transit point for drugs,” he said.
Victoria Falls airport is getting busier, with eight airlines, expected to start landing there soon. Some of the existing carriers are also adding flights.
Technology vs. human fallibility
Gusha said that the human factor remains a challenge as current systems allow compromised officials to wave through contraband that includes drugs. This was demonstrated in the case of Henrietta Rushwaya who has a pending court case after she was caught with 6 kilogrammes of gold in her handbag at RGMIA in October 2020.
An employee of National Handling Services who declined to be named explained to Zim Now how luggage is checked.
He was confident that technology and sniffer dogs can detect most drugs and other contraband effectively.
“A passenger brings their baggage. The big ones they want to take with them are checked. Firstly, the passenger is asked security questions such as whether there are any illegal things or dangerous goods such as firearms in their luggage.
“If there are any of these, the passenger has to declare. If there is nothing he is allowed to proceed and the baggage goes as well to sorting. There they are sorted depending on the airline they are going with,” he said.
The NHS employee said passengers whose luggage is flagged by the scanning machine are summoned to explain. He said some hide the drugs by incorporating them into some kind of clay but this is still caught at the point of scanning.
“Some try to disguise the drugs as their personal medication pills which they may take in as hand luggage,” said the staffer.
He said scanners will still pick up suspicious quantities as one should only take enough medication for the flight and backup in case of lost luggage.
But the employee admitted that the human factor defeats all technology security systems.
“It is not easy for one to get through except if they have links with the people manning the scanners,” he said.
He had no idea of the quantum of drugs potentially going in or out of the country through the airport but he believes one can move anything with the right connections.
This is confirmed with the October 2021 case in which Roselyn Dunga stole US$2 million from a Pakistan national who was smuggling the cash in checked luggage. Dunga was only arrested a few months later after a jealous ex-lover sold her out.
In July 2022, Civil Aviation security officer Gilbert Chimoto told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs that human beings are a weak link in the security systems at entry/exit points.
“We also need a central command structure for all security agencies at the airport. There is also insider threat as people now have the know-how to circumvent the system.”
Chimoto asked the committee chaired by Levy Mayihlome to assist them to get funding to revamp and beef up security and curb leakages at the country’s airports.
ZRP Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga, while speaking on the drug scourge in the country in April this year said police must be better-resourced to effectively fight the scourge.
“These include high-powered motor vehicles for high-speed chases and low-cost vehicles for patrols and surveillance, state-of-the-art technologies at ports of entry and exit, as well as funding for more localised and international training to catch up with new skills requirements in this field,” he said.
Local consumption on the rise
Lawyer Freddy Masarirevu said although Zimbabwe is mainly used as a transit country for drugs destined for elsewhere in the world, the country has a growing consumer market for these drugs too thus the need to effectively deal with the problem.
Police in February 2023 launched an operation codenamed “No to dangerous drugs and illicit substances: See something, say something”, which netted a cumulative 6 921 suspects as of May 22, 2023, the last publicised figure. Several other arrests have been announced since.
Last year, Ingutsheni Psychiatric Hospital Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nemache Mawere said Bulawayo has a high number of mental health patients owing to drug abuse and gender-based violence, adding: “90 percent of its patients in the acute wards are admitted for alcohol and substance abuse with over 2 000 more with the same problem being attended to in the outpatients,” he said.
Crystal Meth, nicknamed mutoriro, ghukha, dombo is finding its way into all corners of the country and the police have indicated that the largest number of those arrested in drug related crimes were in possession of and or distributing this imported drug.
Investigations by Zim Now have indicated that Crystal Meths is mostly imported via neighbouring countries with South Africa and Zambia red flagged as the biggest sources.
Five local drug dealers who spoke to this reporter off camera confirmed that their supply chain is by road from neighbouring countries naming South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique as the biggest sources.
Laws need tightening, prominent figures implicated
Masarirevu said Zimbabwean laws to deal with drug smugglers appear to be very effective and efficient but the spike in the number of drug-related cases raises concerns over their practical application.
“Part VII of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23 deals with dangerous drugs. Section 155 defines dangerous and section 156 & 157 create offences of dealing and possessing drugs respectively. International drug smuggling is also covered by this act. Section 156 provides as follows:
A person who unlawfully—
(a) imports, exports, sells, offers or advertises for sale, distributes, delivers, transports or otherwise deals in a dangerous drug; or
“Clearly this provision speaks to smuggling of drugs for business purposes. The term unlawfully means that importation is only limited to authorised persons or entities. The stiff penalty imposed for dealing in dangerous drugs is a serious commitment by the Government of Zimbabwe to deal with drug smuggling, at least on paper. The act also criminalises possession of dangerous drugs, something which must deter people from acquiring these dangerous drugs from illegal dealers. Section 156 provides for a mandatory sentence of not less than 15 years for a person convicted for dealing in dangerous drugs in aggravating circumstances. Section 11 of the Dangerous Drugs Act also criminalises importation of dangerous drugs, except for authorises institutions. One cannot be faulted for concluding that the legal framework is indeed available to deal with international drug smuggling, given the stiffer penalties imposed by law.
“However, just like many other Acts of Parliament, the reality is that the enforcement of these pieces of legislation continues to undermine their effectiveness and efficiency. Firstly, there are no clear parameters under which the exemption to import can be granted. This leaves room for corruption. Most smugglers either have connections or related to some officials which makes the regulating frameworks mere academic pieces. Despite appearing to be efficient, these legal frameworks cease to be anything in a corrupt environment,” he said.
A Harare drug dealer also confirmed that there are big names behind the supply in the country. He said some well-known socialite ad
“There are two big known big dealers, (named) in Mbare and (named) in Highfields. They sell to other smaller kingpins who then have their own smaller distributors until it gets to the street dealer who generally only has stuff worth about US$50 at a time or less. The police are mostly arresting the small people and that is why the drugs remain on the street,” said one medium size dealer. He said he makes a profit of about US$2500 a month by supplying around 15 small dealers with cocaine and crystal meths for onward sale to individuals.
Dominican Convent, a private school in Harare made the headlines in January 2023 when the school expelled a number of learners over drug use. Investigations by Zim Now at that time showed that other elite schools had had drug problems but were sweeping them under the carpet. Public schools are not better off.
https://zimbabwenow.co.zw/articles/2275/dominican-convent-drug-bust-just-a-tip-of-the-iceberg
Masarirevu said police raids on their own will not solve the problem:
“In most cases, most dealers end up being convicted of unlawful possession of drugs, an offence which carries less weight and less sentence to dealing unlawfully in drugs. In the end, what appears to be water tight legislation is reduced to nothing but just theory,” said Masarirevu.
This article was produced with support from the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) Investigative Journalism fund on transnational crimes
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