By Desmond Chingarande
SOUTH African drug dealer, Shila Khumalo, who was convicted in May this year, collapsed at the Harare Magistrates Court yesterday shortly after chief magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi sentenced her to 12 years in jail.
Khumalo will, however, serve 10 years after Mutevedzi suspended two years on condition of good behaviour.
A number of South Africans have been arrested at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport for drug trafficking.
The court heard that on May 9, information was received that Khumalo was coming to Zimbabwe from Brazil with cocaine aboard an Ethiopian Airways plane and was expected to land at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
On May 10, acting on the information, a team of detectives from CID Drugs and Narcotics Harare, operatives from the Central Intelligence Organisation and personnel from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, who were manning the arrival lounge at the airport, intercepted her.
A search was conducted on her luggage and person leading to the recovery of 53 white balls in her undergarment.
The whitish powder was tested in the presence of the accused at the airport and it tested positive for cocaine.
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It was further discovered that she had ingested 60 balls of cocaine. So far she has excreted 58 balls.
The court heard that she is linked to a syndicate most of whose members are still at large.
Follow Desmond on Twitter @DChingarande1
