THE current war on drugs continues to rage on after police arrested two suspected smugglers in Mutare with a tonne of marijuana following a high-speed chase.
Larry Clay Manyellah, 38, and Probe Zijena, 21, have since appeared before the Mutare Magistrates’ Courts where they were charged with dealing in dangerous drugs.
The duo’s arrest comes at a time the police in Beitbridge also arrested a suspect with the aid of sniffer dogs, who was
trying to smuggle from South Africa a large consignment of codeine-laden Broncleer cough syrup.
It also comes as the police last week said they had intensified an operation code-named No to Crystal Meth, targeting drug
peddlers which saw 93 suspects being arrested in a week, leading to the recovery of drugs worth over $800 000.
In a statement yesterday, national police spokesperson Paul Nyathi warned drug syndicates that the law enforcement agents were hot on their trail.
“Police warn criminals and drug peddlers who disobey lawful instruction from police at checkpoints that they risk being arrested,” he said.
It is alleged that on May 24, Manyellah and Zijena were driving a Toyota Granvia and were first stopped at a police checkpoint in Hot Springs.
The duo disobeyed the order to stop before smashing into the police barricade and driving off at high speed.
A chase ensued while all the police checkpoints in Mutare were alerted of the fleeing suspects.
Nyathi said the suspects headed to Chikanga suburb where they dumped the vehicle and fled into a maize field after being involved in a minor accident.
The police attended the scene and searched the vehicle leading to the recovery of 24x50kg bags of marijuana weighing
1 080kg.
Police investigations led to the duo’s arrest and subsequent court appearance.
