Polisi wakamata Heroine yenye thamani ya Billioni 4 jijini

THE police anti-narcotics taskforce has nabbed five suspects including an Iranian national with some 97 kilogrammes of heroin, valued at 3bn/- in Dar es Salaam.

 Head of the Anti-Drugs unit, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SACP) Godfrey Nzowa, said the suspects were intercepted at the Mbuyuni Africana area at about 3:30am on Wednesday.

 "Law enforcement officers arrested the suspects transporting the drugs in two vehicles. The suspects had just unloaded the drugs from a boat along the coastline," Mr Nzowa said.

 The suspects are Ali Mirzaei Pirbaksh, a citizen of Iran along four Tanzanians namely Said Mashaka Mrisho (31), a resident of Tandale and Aziz Juma Kizingiti (32), a resident of Magomeni Mapipa in the city. Others are Abdul Mtumwa Lukongo (36), a resident of Kariakoo and Hamidu Kitwana Karim (43).

 "We are still interrogating them and they will soon appear in court," SACP Nzowa said.

 He was of a view that the drugs might have been shipped from Pakistan through Iran and finally in Tanzania.

 The consignment is the largest to be nabbed by the police since February this year when the law enforcement officers arrested four suspects and seized 179 kilograms of heroin, SACP Nzowa said.

 In April and July this year, the anti-drugs unit also managed to seize 81kg and 27kg of heroin respectively.

 While pleading for public support to tame the vice, he said his unit is well prepared to deal with drug dealers.

 "Drug dealers are coming up with new tricks but I can assure the public that we are going to get them," SACP Nzowa boasted.

 If convicted, the suspects could face life imprisonment, Mr Nzowa said, noting that such cases are normally tried in the High Court.

Source: Daily News