K10m worth of cocaine destroyed

Officials on Tuesday destroyed 2.7 kilogrammes of cocaine valued at about K10 million ($14 430) which was seized from a Venezuelan woman some two weeks ago.

Police confiscated the illicit substance, which was packed in sealed flasks, from 34-year-old Luiz Marina Benitez Roselly on April 18, 2016 at Chileka International Airport in Blantyre.

The destruction ceremony took place at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre by officials from the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board.

Southern Region Police spokesperson James Kadadzera said the exercise was conducted following a court order.

The Venezuelan was last week found guilty of being found in possession of dangerous drugs contrary to Section 19 of the Dangerous Drugs Act by the Blantyre Magistrate Court.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment and is serving her jail term at Chichiri Prison.

The arrest of the woman came barely a week after police in Lilongwe arrested Patricia Nyasulu Okoligwe, 32, wife to a Lilongwe-based Nigerian businessperson for allegedly being found in possession of cocaine.

Police said they got a tip from the public that the suspect’s husband, Collins Okoligwe, was selling cocaine at their Area 47 residence in Lilongwe.

In July last year, government also deported two Nigerians after the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court found them guilty of being found in possession of cocaine also at their Area 47 house.

In December last year, a Malawian lady Grace Sauti Phiri was reportedly arrested at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana for possessing and importing cocaine without lawful authority in that country.

Cocaine is a strongly addictive stimulant drug which produces short-term euphoria but with dangerous health effects.