Of late, several drug smugglers have been arrested at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport attempting to smuggle in cocaine. Most of the drug mules are coming from South America.
Last month 22-year-old Guilherme Sodre Alvenaz Da Silveria was arrested on landing at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport aboard an Ethiopian Airways flight. Da Silveria who is from Sao Paolo, Brazil was attempting to smuggle 4.3kg of cocaine into Zimbabwe with an estimated street value of more than $36 million.
Earlier that month, another Brazilian national 23-year-old Karoline Silva Mafra was busted with 230 grammes of cocaine valued at nearly $2 million. Mafra also used an Ethiopian Airways flight to try to smuggle the drugs into Zimbabwe. Following a tip-off detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Drugs, Narcotics and Canine section in Harare intercepted Mafra at the airport.
It is not clear if the market for cocaine is growing in Zimbabwe or if the drug dealers are using Zimbabwe as a transit point.-iharare.com
