Three Hwange drug dealers who were selling narcotics to
schoolchildren at Kalope Secondary School have been jailed.
Thaboka Ndlovu (21), Bhekimpilo Sibelo (23) and Clinton
Joromia (18) were recently caught selling Bron Cleer cough syrup and mbanje to
students at the school.
The three appeared before provincial magistrate Barbra
Phiri facing charges of possession of prohibited medicines and dangerous drugs.
She convicted them on their own plea before sentencing them to 16 months
imprisonment each.
Five months of the sentences were suspended on condition of
good behaviour, while a further 11 months were set aside on condition that they
served 420 hours of community service.
Joromia will, however, serve 385 hours. The court heard
that on March 3, 2019, an informant, who is a member of the school’s
development committee, received information from one of the concerned parents
that there was a dealer who was selling drugs to schoolchildren at a nearby
bush.
The informant then teamed up with other parents and
proceeded to a bush near the institution.
They found the trio seated under trees and searched them. They recovered 7×100 milliliters of Bron Cleer cough syrup
stashed in a brown leather bag.
Also, 12 sachets of loose dagga weighing 65 grammes were
recovered. The value of the recovered cough syrup is $126, while
mbanje was valued at $24.
A report was made to the police, leading to the trio’s
arrest. Vumizulu Mangena appeared for the State.
The sale of Bron Cleer on the streets is prohibited and can
only be obtained over the counter with a prescription.
Bron Cleer is used to treat coughs, but of late, has been
abused by youths.
Possible effects of abusing the medicine include confusion,
impaired judgment, blurred vision, dizziness, slurred speech, irregular heartbeat,
high blood pressure, lethargy and numbness, among others.
The country has seen an upsurge in substance abuse as well
as selling of fake medicines on the streets, with Health minister Obadiah Moyo
recently warning Zimbabweans against buying such drugs.
Medicines such as Bron Cleer and other counterfeit drugs
are smuggled into the country from neighbouring countries before being sold on
the black market. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment