{"id":2793,"date":"2026-10-28T19:49:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T19:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=2793"},"modified":"2026-10-28T19:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T19:49:24","slug":"two-more-arrested-in-manicaland-dagga-crackdown-as-police-uproot-118-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2026\/10\/28\/two-more-arrested-in-manicaland-dagga-crackdown-as-police-uproot-118-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"TWO MORE ARRESTED IN MANICALAND DAGGA CRACKDOWN AS POLICE UPROOT 118 PLANTS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Two more people have been arrested in separate drug-related cases in Manicaland after police allegedly discovered 118 dagga plants growing in a maize field in Chimanimani and recovered 38 grammes of the drug from a man at Penhalonga Business Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrests, which occurred on Tuesday, October 27, come a day after two men from Ruwaka Village under Chief Mutambara in Chimanimani were arrested following the discovery of 770 dagga plants allegedly growing alongside maize crops in their fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest incidents bring to four the number of people reported arrested in the three cases, with police investigations ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Chimanimani case, Maria Mawacha, 42, of Nyamashanga Village under Chief Mutambara, was arrested after police allegedly found 118 dagga plants growing alongside maize in her field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to police, ZRP Cashel intelligence operatives received information around 6pm on October 27 that dagga was being cultivated in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officers reportedly approached the field posing as buyers of green maize and found Mawacha guarding her crops against baboons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police said they identified themselves and requested to search the field, where they allegedly discovered the 118 dagga plants growing alongside the maize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mawacha reportedly confirmed that the plants belonged to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plants, which had an average height of one metre, were uprooted and taken to Cashel Police Station as exhibits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was arrested and detained at the station, while investigations continue. The matter has also been referred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Drugs unit in Mutare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate incident, Last Dambudzo, 27, of Devule Village under Chief Chamutsa in Birchenough Bridge, was arrested at Penhalonga Business Centre after police allegedly found him in possession of loose dagga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police said intelligence operatives received information around 1pm on October 27 that Dambudzo was allegedly carrying the drug at Penhalonga shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officers reportedly arrested him at the business centre and recovered a black plastic bag containing loose dagga from his left trouser pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The substance was weighed at Penhalonga Post Office and recorded as weighing 38 grammes. It was subsequently secured at Penhalonga Police Station, where Dambudzo was detained pending court proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ZRP Manicaland acting spokesperson Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed the arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest arrests follow the apprehension of Lovemore Zambasira, 73, and Liberty Maunganidze, 38, of Ruwaka Village under Chief Mutambara in Chimanimani, on October 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two men were allegedly found cultivating 770 dagga plants alongside maize crops following a police operation prompted by a tip-off received on October 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police reportedly travelled about 30 kilometres to the village with assistance from a well-wisher who provided transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrests highlight continued police operations targeting the cultivation and possession of dagga in Manicaland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the accused persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fanuel Chinowaita Two more people have been arrested in separate drug-related cases in Manicaland after police allegedly discovered 118 dagga plants growing in a maize field in Chimanimani and recovered 38 grammes of the drug from a man at Penhalonga Business Centre. The arrests, which occurred on Tuesday, October 27, come a day after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2794,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2793\/revisions\/2794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}