Cape Town - Zimbabwe police have confirmed the arrest of Shaik Zeenat Khatoon Rafiq, 43, for the unlawful possession of 9.2kg of heroin at Victoria Falls International Airport on Sunday.
According to Zimbabwean authorities, detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics, Victoria Falls received information that the suspect was in possession of heroin, which she intended to smuggle into India.
Police say that they responded to a tip-off from an anonymous source.
“The suspect, who intended to board an Ethiopian Airline to Addis Ababa en-route to India, was found with 9.2kgs of heroin stuffed in the lining of her silver travelling bag at the airports scanning point,” said a statement by police.
Zimbabwe police say that in an unrelated incident on October 1, detectives from CID Drugs and Narcotics, Beitbridge reacted to a tip-off and arrested a cross-border transporter by the name of Obvious Moyo,34, in connection with unlawful possession of 50 x 100 mls of Benylin cough syrup.
The cough syrup was found hidden underneath other luggage in a Toyota Hilux vehicle with foreign number plates.
Investigations by the police revealed that the suspect was being used to transport contraband from South Africa into the country.
According to Interpol, drug syndicates use Zimbabwe as a transit country, especially for cocaine and cannabis bound for the rest of the world.
Recent evidence indicates that Zimbabwe itself has a growing consumer market for these drugs too, says Interpol.