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225kg of dagga land men in court

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TWO Harare men were on Tuesday remanded in custody to today when they appeared before a Mutare magistrate facing charges of illegal possession of 225kg of dagga in Nyanga.

TWO Harare men were on Tuesday remanded in custody to today when they appeared before a Mutare magistrate facing charges of illegal possession of 225kg of dagga in Nyanga. OBEY MANAYITI

Amon Madhela (35) and Doubt Sapali (37) were not asked to plead to the charges when they appeared before magistrate Waini Makamera.

The State alleges that on June 29 this year, the suspects left their contraband comprising of seven 90kg bags of dagga at one Manganda’s homestead under Chief Saunyama’s area for safekeeping.

At around 9 pm on the same day, they allegedly returned to collect their dagga in the company of Chamunorwa Mpofu, who is still at large. They were using two hired vehicles, one of them driven by Gift Munyaradzi Sithole.

They then loaded their illicit drug in one vehicle and drove along the Nyamaropa-Nyakomba Road where they were later intercepted by police where Madhela and Sapali revealed their identities.

Upon realising that they had landed themselves in trouble, the suspects sped off in different directions.

But police made follow-ups and recovered the dagga in one of the vehicles which had been left dumped by the roadside after it developed a mechanical fault.

Both Madhela and Sapali were arrested on August 23 at their respective residences in Harare following a tip-off.

However, their lawyer Amos Chibaya said police detectives investigating the matter had forced his clients to change the warned-and-cautioned statements they had signed earlier on in his presence.

He also disputed the State’s assertion that the two were a flight risk if released on bail.

Nelson Makunyire prosecuted.