Eleven residents of Kapiri Mposhi are appearing in the magistrate court for operating pharmacies without licences of registration.
Particulars of the offence are that the suspects, on December 17, 2020 operated drug stores without a Certificate of Registration issued by the Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority (ZAMRA).
This is contrary to Section 14 (1) of the Medicines and Allied Substances Act No. 3 of 2013.
The suspects were arrested in a joint surveillance routine operation by ZAMRA Inspectors and Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers in Kapiri Mposhi.
The operation was aimed at curbing the sale of medicines and allied substances in unregistered outlets in the district.
In this matter, seven suspects are appearing before Kapiri Mposhi Magistrate, Emmanuel Banda while four others are before Magistrate Mwila Malupande.
The accused persons include Simon Phiri, 78, Elias Miselo, 65, Lameck Musonda, 27, Gloria Lungu 23, and Lazarous Daka and Kayombo Chisale both aged 30.
Others are Robert Simfukwe, 22, Sharon Kalipenta, 20, and Patrick Chate, 19 and Jabes Banda and Jones Mumba both aged 23.
All the accused persons apart from Gloria Lungu and Sharon Kalipenta have pleaded guilty to the offence.
Lungu and Kalipenta could not take plea as they were not before court.
Both Magistrate Malupande and Banda have respectively adjourned the cases to February 24, 2021 for presentation and reading of facts.
Meanwhile, Magistrate Banda has adjourned plea for Kalipenta and Lungu to a later date.
The suspects are on police bond.
Cage those criminals we are tired.
Meanwhile the biggest fish in the pond Honeybee is free and protected by PF Chief Whip Tutwa and Lazy Lungu