Woman arrested at Malawi airport after smuggling drugs vehicle head gasket
Days after Malawi Police launched an operation to deal with an ‘epidemic’ of drug and substance trade across the country, officer at Chileka International Airport arrested a 34-year-old woman who was found with illicit drugs hidden in a motor vehicle head gasket carried as spare part.
The woman Velian Duwa was found in possession of Ephedrine, a suspected illicit drug.
She was coming from India via Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia) to Chileka International Airport on Ethiopian Airlines
While searching the woman’s bags, police found motor vehicle head gaskets. Officers then broke the gaskets and found the drugs.
Duwa was immediately arrested and has since been charged with two counts of being found in possession of suspected illicit drug without permission from the Minister and illegal importation of the suspected dangerous drug.
She is in Police custody at Chileka Police station and will appear before court once police investigations are over.
Duwa comes from village Kankhani in the Area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kamenyagwaza in Dedza District and holds a Malawian passport number MA849984.
This comes days after a 26-year-old Lilongwe based Malawian man, Riad Randeri, died in Brazil on a suspected drug mission.
Nigerian Ojukwu confessed to have bought the young Malawian an airy ticket to Brazil as his drug courier.
Police have launched a drive to eliminate drug dealing by foreign nationals – mostly Nigerians – following reports that Malawian youth are being used by drug lords as peddlers of high-value illicit drugs.
Deprivation, peer pressure and lack of job opportunities are cited among factors contributing to the youth involvement in peddling and substance and drug abuse.
A police top detective warned drug dealers that officers were “coming after them”
“We will continue with this, and my message to those supplying these substances is- we are coming after you. I urge members of the public to contact the police if they are aware of such activity so that we can work with them in an effort to target these dealers,” said the detective who asked not to be named.
Meanwhile, an appeal has been sounded for government and its partners to expedite the passing of laws to regulate drug use and trafficking before more youth are exploited and abused.
Youth should, instead, be given education and employment opportunities to realise their full; productive potential as human capital
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