Doctor, Nurse, Pharmacist Cleared In Drugs Allegations – Eduzim News

By A Correspondent| A top Harare medical doctor who was arrested together with a registered nurse and a pharmacist after being implicated in an illegal drugs scandal involving pethidine have been cleared of the allegations.

Tanaka Chimuka, Tapiwa Mutebuka and Sam Chasaya were arrested by detectives from CID drugs who claimed to have had received information from an informant linking them to the scandal.

This was after the capture of one Osla Mpamhanga who was allegedly on his way to deliver the drugs, 40 by 100mgs pethidine solution and 40 injection needles.

From the onset, the three argued that they are personel in the medical industry exempt from arrest as they are part of the authorized persons to administer, possess and supply drugs like pethidine.

However, the State insisted on prosecuting them but failed to lead incriminating evidence that the trio was dealing in the alleged drugs resulting in the collapse of the case after the trio mounted an application for discharge.

This follows their failure to have the recovered drugs produced in court as exhibits and also failure to have the biker, Mupamhanga, testify in court, to confirm whether he had been sent by the trio or not.

In their application for discharge, the trio represented by Admire Rubaya, Stephen Chikotora and Malvern Mapako, the trio described the prosecution as “a classical failed fishing expedition where the State has failed to even catch a small tadpole.”

They argued that the State had failed to lead anything incriminating against them and had also failed to prove that pethidine was a dangerous drug at law.

It was their argument that the State had failed to prove the said drug was pethidine and had not led any expert evidence to support that the recovered items were indeed pethidine.

“The State was obliged to prove that the alleged drug was pethidine in the first place. The State failed to produce the said drug into evidence and failed to prove that the subject matter was a dangerous drug called pethidine,” their lawyers argued.

The suspects also argued that they were never arrested in possession of the alleged drugs but only through implication by a person who was never arrested or through information by an informant who was never brought to court to testify against them.

“There is no evidence which has been led by the State that the Accused persons had the requisite knowledge of the existence of the alleged Pethidine since it was in the physical control of a person who was never arrested by the police and has not been accounted for.”

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