The ManicaPost
OVER the past weeks criminal cases involving either the smuggling of dagga from Mozambique into the country or the cultivation of the same in gardens by villagers here in Zimbabwe have become the mainstay of news headlines.
Last month, police in Manicaland recovered 6,7 tonnes of mbanje that had been smuggled into the country via the Forbes Border Post and various other porous entry points along the border with Mozambique.
And last week, a well-known traditional healer in Chimanimani was arrested while cultivating 500 plants of dagga in her garden. She confessed to using the dagga for medicinaal purposes as well as selling some on the black market.
In this issue we carry another story in which a 28-year-old Rusape man was arrested with 79 plants of dagga in his garden.
He was ordered to do community service while the Chimanimani traditional healer was lucky not to go to jail after the court considered her age.
Apart from dagga, the peddling and distribution of dangerous drugs has risen exponentially in Mutare and surrounding areas and the substances have found their way into the schools causing untold havoc and behavioural decadence.
Cough syrup mixtures which are usually bought as per prescription have found their way onto the streets and the bulk of them are being smuggled into the country from South Africa.
This has resulted in the emergence of undesirable behavioural traits in the community.
The vices that are now being committed are largely due to the influence of these drugs.
Prostitution, murder, robbery, theft and general public violence have been fuelled by the abuse of these narcotics.
The country’s borders are not as porous as the police would want the public to believe but the smuggling of these drugs is continuing because of illegal activities that involve law enforcement agents.
How can seven tonnes of dagga cross a legal entry point unnoticed?
Boxes full of cough syrup mixtures are finding their way into the country because customs officials are getting kickbacks.
The ring also includes well-known pharmacies who are using their licences to buy the medicine but later dump everything to their runners on the black market.
Law enforcement agents are not doing enough.
For the record, police intelligence units in the community have a full understanding of drug rings that operate in society.
They know who operates what and they have details of the locations and hideouts where the contraband is kept.
They should arrest the culprits.
The Chimanimani traditional healer and the Rusape man who were caught recently were just unfortunate because they are small fish.
The big fish, the real drivers of this drug trade, who are living handsomely and buying expensive vehicles from this criminal enterprise have protection.
They are tipped of any police operation by the same cops who are supposed to fish them out.
This situation has made it difficult for the society to get rid of drugs that have badly affected youths.
The borders can be sealed off if there is commitment on the part of the officers who are deployed to do the job.
The same applies to the smuggling of second- hand clothes into the country.
The smuggling of second-hand clothes is a well-knit criminal operation involving high- ranking police officers who are being paid handsomely to look the other way while trucks loaded with bales make way into the country under the cover of darkness.
The criminal problems facing the country are a result of corruption that has settled comfortably in the rank and file of the police force and it’s difficult to eradicate the vice because those benefiting from it view it as normal.
