A car park near the Chronicle building in Bulawayo was the scene of a dramatic but surgical police raid yesterday, as investigators swooped on the notorious drug hotspot.
The operation was the result of months of surveillance and intelligence gathering by the Narcotics and Narcotics Section of the CID, which had been monitoring illegal activities taking place next door to the city’s largest media house, Zimpapers.
The Saturday Chronicle news crew witnessed a police operation that was planned and executed with precision, speed and with minimal collateral damage.
A small team of highly trained officers targeted the identified drug gang, using intelligence and surveillance to guide their actions.
Resisting the distraction around them, investigators stuck to their goal as they searched and arrested several suspects, who were using the street as a cover for drug dealing.
The suspects were pretending to wash cars, while in reality they were selling and using drugs and various substances.
Investigators from the Narcotics and Narcotics Section of the CID questioned suspected drug sellers in a car along George Silundika Street yesterday.
The news journalist witnessed investigators escorting a Ford Ranger with South African plates, on suspicion that it did not have the correct documents.
The drug sellers were not aware that they were under the watchful eye of the police, who received many reports from the public about rampant drug use in the area.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Abedneko Ncube, confirmed the raid and praised the efforts of the Criminal Investigations Department’s anti-narcotics team.
“The raid which took place along George Silundika Street and Ninth Avenue is the result of ongoing efforts by the police to target drug and drug users and dealers. The police will continue to use information provided by members of the public and through their own intelligence gathering to pounce on drug dealers in the city.
“The CID’s anti-narcotics team is receiving information that a lot of illegal activities are taking place in that area as some individuals claim to wash cars but are involved in drug trafficking,” he said.
He added that the police will announce the exact number of arrests and types of drugs seized in due course.
The raid was part of a wider crackdown on drug trafficking in Bulawayo, which has become a serious crime problem in the city.
Last year, the Chronicle revealed how drug lords recruit street car washers, dealers, sex workers and street children to act as their agents, using them to distribute drugs and substances such as methamphetamine (crystal meth), marijuana, and bronclair (cough). a drink known as “njoma”), and illicit alcohol (“njingo”). Drug traffickers use innovative and covert methods to evade law enforcement, posing a major challenge to the authorities. Chronicle
