The ManicaPost
Abel Zhakata
Senior Reporter
OVER the past few years, illegal sex enhancing drugs that are smuggled into Mutare through the porous border with Mozambique have found shelf space in several downtown and backyard stores in the eastern border city.
According to investigations conducted by The Manica Post over the last couple of months, the usage of sex enhancing drugs has been growing in leaps and bounds, with the young generation consuming the greater chunk of the contraband as they experiment on the promised effects of the drugs.
The highly sought-after sex enhancers include Indian sweets, virginity soaps, tightening soaps, black tea for men and sex boosters for men, among many others.
The country’s pharmacies were banned from selling sex enhancement drugs a few years ago by the Medicine Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ), but it appears the ban has failed to take effect if the increase in demand of the drugs is anything to go by.
The drugs are either sold as units or packs for prices ranging from US$1 to US$20.
As peddlers of the drugs continue to push volumes in the thriving business, merchandisers have flooded the pavements of the city centre with their illegal products while daring shop owners are openly selling the drugs in their shops.
Detectives have revealed that most of the drugs are being smuggled into the country from Asian and neighbouring countries.
“The smugglers are very cunning. Some of the drugs are brought through normal channels like Forbes Border Post and Robert Mugabe International Airport, packed in ways that seek to conceal what they really are.
“Some of the contraband crosses into the country via several illegal routes along the Mozambican border. This is the same method that is being used to bring Broncleer into the country,” said one of the detectives who requested anonymity, citing protocol.
Last week, detectives from the Drugs and Narcotics department raided a downtown wholesale shop in Mutare and recovered sex enhancing drugs that were being illegally sold to the public. Alert members of the public had informed the police that Selfast Shop, situated at Corner Hebert Chitepo and Railway Avenue, was selling illegal drugs.
The shop manager, Ms Dorothy Tsuro (61) and her assistant Mr Paul Mukosanjera (36) were arrested for contravening Section 29 (a) of the Medicines Allied Substances Control Act as read with Section 18 (1) of Statutory Instrument 97/2015 Complimentary Medicines.
They were charged for selling the drugs without authority.
The duo appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mrs Prisca Manhibi, and were each fined $9 600. Ms Tawonanyasha Chakuzira prosecuted, while Ms Netsai Nembiri from Mutungura and Partners Legal Practitioners represented the duo.
The recovered drugs were burnt.
A woman who sells the merchandise in an uptown boutique requested anonymity and revealed that Indian sweets are the most sort after sex enhancing drug.
“They are popular with women and we sell many pills on a daily basis. Most of our sales are repeat purchases from clients who are getting satisfied with how the pills are working for them. They are saying the medicine has greatly changed their sex lives and their marriages are now right on course.
“You don’t find these drugs on our shelves because we know what we are doing is illegal, but we have to do this to make ends meet. We sell them via the backdoor to trusted clients only,” she said.
She also revealed that some of the drugs can affect the consumer’s sexual partner.
“My clients have told me that this ‘medicine’ has some effects on their partners, even if they would not have consumed them.”
Mutare-based medical practitioner, Dr Prudence Mhlanga confirmed the rampant usage of un-prescribed sex enhancing drugs, adding that this practice is dangerous.
“This is a health hazard that needs to be dealt with quickly,” he said.
“People should only use drugs that have been prescribed by a doctor and obtained from a registered dispensing outlet. We don’t really know the chemical composition of these sex enhancing drugs that are being sold on the streets and through backyard channels. We don’t know how they are going to interact with the body when consumed. We have people taking anti-retroviral, high blood pressure tablets and other medications for chronic conditions, we don’t know how these sex drugs are going to affect them. These drugs may cause heart and lung diseases, as well as internal bleeding and renal failure.
“This might explain some of the prolonged erections that some men suffer from. Illegal medicines can cause a lot of problems. Unfortunately there isn’t enough research on their effects as their chemical composition is unknown. Those drugs have not been tested and approved for usage,” said Dr Mhlanga.
“Only drugs approved by the MCAZ are safe for patients. Taking anything that you find on the streets is dangerous as it might affect your brain and behaviour,” said Dr Mhlanga, before adding that the illegal drugs might be contributing towards rape cases.
Ends.
