The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) on Monday nabbed two Bolivian nationals and found on and ‘in’ them a combined 13.2 kilogrammes of crack cocaine.
The drug bust was the largest the country has seen.
DEC public relations officer Samuel Silomba confirmed the seizure of drugs and arrest of the South Americans in Lusaka yesterday.
Mr Silomba said the seizure is the largest ever in the history of the DEC.
He named the Bolivians as Jorge Padilla, a 31-year-old man, and Jackeline Pedraza, a 21-year-old woman.The two suspects had swallowed a large quantity of cocaine pellets which the DEC displayed.
Mr Silomba said Padilla had swallowed 89 pellets while Pedraza had swallowed 99 pellets while the other contraband was concealed in nine different DVD players, four baby powder containers and two cocoa tins.[pullquote]we are no longer a transit point but a consuming nation[/pullquote]
The Bolivians arrived from Dubai via Emirates Airlines after connecting through Brazil from their country.At the airport, DEC officers summoned the duo without attracting the attention of travellers.
The Bolivians cooperated with the officers and were led to the DEC offices where, after being questioned, they excreted the pellets. They were later driven to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in the heart of the capital to be examined to ensure nothing remained in the bowels.
“There was no drama at all because our officers did a professional job at KK airport and no one tipped us. We had our own information,” Mr Silomba said.
The Bolivian suspects are in police custody and will appear in court soon.
“We are getting worried as DEC because these drugs were destined for Lusaka, meaning we are no longer a transit point but a consuming nation,” Mr Silomba said.
“We want to warn foreigners as well as Zambians that the DEC will get you if you deal in drugs,” he stressed.
Mr Silomba said DEC officers on the ground have intensified intelligence gathering and will soon get to consumers of the prohibited drugs.
He warned that DEC will not sit back and allow Zambia to become a haven for drugs.
Meanwhile Kabwe High Court has sentenced a 40-year-old man to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for drug trafficking.
Appearing before Judge Edwin Sikazwe was Peter Kashimakuku, who was committed to the Kabwe High Court by the Kabwe subordinate court for sentencing. He was a second offender.Kashimakuku’s jail term is effective 2006 when he was incarcerated.
Mr Justice Sikazwe also sentenced 28-year-old Clement Mwape to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for trafficking in psychotropic substances, contrary to Section 6 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act Chapter 96 of the laws of Zambia, as read with Statutory Instrument 119 of 1995.
The convict, who was first convicted of drug trafficking in 2002 and served a six-month jail sentence at Mpima Prison, will serve his second sentence effective 2006 when he was incarcerated.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
way to go….
Good job DEC, pls keep it up. These hard drugs are a nuisance and the last thing we need is our productive citizens getting hooked and ending up being junkies like Whitney Houston!
Good job DEC officers, its a sign of seriousness and reliable sources of information, in short good Intel.
jail them with hard labour not just fining them tuma millions no! they should go in the way zambians goin both in foreign countries and at home. no sympathy here please.
Ver.y good
Good job. Keep it up…
Lucky Bolivians that its Zambia who got you, your lives are saved. Unfortunately balinyela in the DEC offices. Who cleaned? Never mind Bolivians are more cleaner, if it was an Indian shiting in office… maaa.
Who told you? Have you been to Bolivia?
a very racist comment at best…how do you know what people’s shit looks like? Do you have a scat fetish?
@6 You sir, is a stupid slimy wanker!
You are a moron as if your crap smells better than any other human.
BA DEC APA MWEBO MULIBOMBELE, GOOD JOB BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW!!!!
OBVIOUSLY NI TIP OFF U JUST CANT SAY IT NAIMWE.
Gud job DEC!
there is a growing number of Zambians consumers of cocaine but most white farmers from south africa, chinese, lebanese, are drug users, they snort the powder and smoke dagga! I know this because i have seen them take it.
Why don’t you report them, does this mean that you do it together with them?
If these guys have the impunity to carry such contraband by air travel….only god knows how much has been sneaked into the country. By the way they were arrested one can only concluded this was via a tip-off.
Does the DEC have the capability and patience to weed out smugglers who have ingested the drugs. Why has the law authorities invested in specialist sniffer dogs? These are guys who sneak into the country and open all these business fronts.
Imagine if 13kg is large just imagine how much goes through our borders concealed in vehicles.
Good job, but GRZ buy office furniture for the DEC. Some of their office furniture has given up. These guys need all the concentration they require to stop the scourge.
Number 10 Jay Jay do not underestimate DEC’s capabilities. Whether it was a tip off or not the fact remains that they have done a good job. Drug and security agencies worldwide cooperate and share intel for the simple fact that drugs are a nuisance in most countries. Bolivians should thank their lucky stars that they were not caught in China otherwise it would have been a straight death penalty no compromise!
Considering how many countries were involved it is interesting if there was no tip off and how many might have missed the two… Congratulations.
Good job ba DECEMBER.
Has anyone else noticed the last part of the article (unrelated to the headline story, of course) where a man was sentenced for drug trafficking and “will serve his second sentence effective 2006 when he was incarcerated,”? So, the man has been waiting sentencing since 2006? Six years to be sentenced! It is too much, that’s not justice.
@AnAppeal
Spotted it but was too busy squashing the urge to make ‘crap’ jokes :(
You’re absolutely right. Not fair at all.
street value?
its easy to sneak drugs into Zambia.
this man is black awwwwwwwwww
@Rizzo if it’s let’s say $50 (250 pin) per gramme that’s $660,000 – but if that’s the pure cocaine they are importing you can dilute to make 3 grammes out of 1 gramme, so maybe as much as $2 mil street value in the end
Now where are those HH bootlickers to make comments about “Ukwanomics” and Bemba thieves? I know why MMD bootlickers are silent, they probably just lost a lot of money haha
Employ the death penalty like China and Asian countries for Cocaine more than a littles grammes and that will be the end of this nonsense. Never trusted south Americans from certain nations and never will. Great job though DEC.
This incidence merely begs the question HOW MANY MORE HAVE SLIPPED PAST Zambian security?????????????????????????
Pipo who wants to get rich fast ,thats want DEC can do.Get them.short cuts does not pay.