Alert Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officers stationed at Chirundu One-Stop Border Post confiscated a huge consignment of skin lightening creams and “body-building” tablets which were carefully stashed in a well-carved opening on the trailer of a haulage truck destined for Harare.
A two metre-long opening had been carved into the flatbed trailer of the haulage truck. The contraband was cleverly stashed in huge 50 kilogramme sacks. This was a clear case of a shrewd driver who was trying to illegally smuggle into the country these prohibited skin lightening creams and body fattening tablets which are not prohibited in neighbouring Zambia.
It is suspected that the driver might have got wind to the effect that the scanner at the border post was temporarily out of order and thus he thought of trying to smuggle the contraband. However, his luck ran out after a tip-off that the truck had been observed loading the contraband in the Zambian capital Lusaka and as a result, the truck was intercepted at the entry gate. The goods and the truck were seized while the driver who was in the company of two ladies were arrested for smuggling and will appear in court soon.
Skin lightening creams and “body building” tablets – a favourite among local females – have flooded the streets of Harare and other towns, with vendors who are ready to sell them to unsuspecting customers playing a cat and mouse chase with members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Municipal Police on a regular basis.
These smuggled products which usually come into the country via Zambia are notoriously known for having negative side effects on people who use them. Some of the side effects include kidney failure, blurred vision, sedation, dry mouth and gastrointestinal. Studies have also shown that prolonged use of “body building” tablets can lead to asymmetrical development of the human fat and flesh.
A worrying development is taking place in Zimbabwe with the country – which was once a conduit for illegal drugs into and out of South Africa – now becoming a consumer of all sorts of hard drugs. The streets are now awash with drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine, broncleer – popularly known as bronco in street lingo, histalix, marijuana among other hard drugs.