Crime

MBABANE - “In all honesty, I have no knowledge of the dagga and how it came to be in one of the rooms.”

This submission was made by Phinda Dlamini (38) after police discovered 2 169kg of dagga (cannabis) with a street value of E5 million in one of the rooms at his homestead at Nyonyane, in northern Hhohho.

The dagga, contained in 277 bags, was allegedly retrieved from one of the rooms during a raid conducted by the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) under the Anti-Narcotics Unit across all four regions of the country. In his bail application, Dlamini stated that the police called and requested him to return home while he was at work at a construction company at Mliba.

At the time, he explained, he had left his wife and children at home. He stated that he resides with his brothers and cousins within the extended family setup.

“Upon arrival, I found the police had placed numerous bags of dagga in the yard in the presence of my wife and children.

They had broken into one of the rooms in the homestead and found the dagga there,” he submitted.

Dlamini said he was then informed that he was being charged with possession of the dagga bags. He maintained that he had no knowledge of the dagga or how it came to be in one of the rooms.

However, he believed that since his wife and children were present at the homestead, the presumption was that the bags belonged to him, which led to him being charged with the offence.

Full article available in our publication.

The dagga bags that were found at a homestead in Nyonyane, resulting in the arrest of Phinda Dlamini. (Pics: Courtesy)