Chiredzi cop caged 5 years for drug possession

A CHIREDZI cop was last Friday jailed five years for unlawful possession of dangerous drugs.

Luckmore Munhukwaye (43), who was stationed at Ndali Police Station in Chiredzi, appeared before regional magistrate Judith Zuyu.

His accomplice, Phyllis Mufandaedza (36), of Masekesa, was also sentenced to five years imprisonment last week.

Her Toyota Noah Voxy vehicle, which was used during the commission of the crime, was forfeited to the State.

Munhukwaye was convicted after a full trial, while Mufandaedza pleaded guilty to possession of 190kg of mbanje when she appeared in court last week.

In defence, Munhukwaye said he was not aware that the sacks he was carrying contained dagga.

The court, however, found him guilty after noting a lot of inconsistencies in his statements.

Prosecutor Moreblessing Rusere told the court that on February 1, 2021 at around 3pm, Assistant Inspector Etwell Ngara received a tip-off that there was dagga at some premises at Masekesa business centre.

On the same day at around 11pm, the police stormed the house and recovered a packet of loose dagga which was on top of a wardrobe in one of the rooms.

They interrogated Cynthia Mhuriro after finding her in the house, and she implicated Mufandaedza.

She told the police that Mufandaedza had been taken by police detectives from Chiredzi, who were driving a Toyota Hilux GD-6 Revo, and the police seized the dagga.

The police left the house and on their way to Chiredzi, they spotted a silver Toyota Noah Voxy vehicle along the Ngundu-Tanganda Highway which was being driven by Munhukwaye, with Mufandaedza on the passenger seat.

The police became suspicious and followed it, but Munhukwaye sped off after noticing that he was being followed, leading to a high-speed chase.

On approaching Ndali turn-off at Rupangwana, he turned into Ndali Road, drove for about 200 metres before making a U-turn and driving back to the Ngundu-Tanganda Highway with the police in hot pursuit.

He allegedly sped past a police roadblock, but was eventually cornered and arrested together with Mufandaedza.