{"id":11501,"date":"2025-12-29T11:38:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=11501"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:38:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:38:26","slug":"zimbabwe-intensifies-war-on-illicit-drugs-border-congestion-sparks-regional-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=11501","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe Intensifies War on Illicit Drugs, Border Congestion Sparks Regional Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> Tembani P. Thebe |ZIM GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beitbridge, Zimbabwe &#8211; Zimbabwe&#8217;s crackdown on illicit drug trafficking has reached a boiling point, causing chaos at border crossings and disrupting regional trade routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truck drivers are bearing the brunt of the intensified inspections, with queues stretching for miles at key bottlenecks like Imbhobo Zamajuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A truck driver plying the South Africa-Democratic Republic of Congo route shared his frustration with ZIM GBC NEWS, &#8220;The South African side is complaining that Zimbabwe&#8217;s strict border controls are causing congestion, making our job extremely difficult.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He recounted his own ordeal, spending three days stuck at the border due to the enhanced security measures.<br>Zimbabwean authorities have been intercepting large shipments of unregistered medicines, including cough syrups laced with addictive substances like codeine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent operations in Beitbridge and Harare&#8217;s Southerton area have resulted in multiple arrests and seizures, marking a significant escalation in the country&#8217;s efforts to disrupt smuggling networks and curb the flow of illicit drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move has sparked a heated debate among regional stakeholders. While some argue that stricter controls are necessary to protect public health, others warn of potential economic consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Zimbabwe continues to tighten its grip on drug trafficking, the impact on cross-border trade and cooperation with neighboring countries like South Africa will be closely monitored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow Zim GBC News on Social Media:<br>\u00b7X (Twitter): @ZimGbc \u00b7Instagram: @ZimGBCNews<br>\u00b7TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01 \u00b7Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u00b7YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:<br>+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a9\ufe0f2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tembani P. Thebe |ZIM GBC News Beitbridge, Zimbabwe &#8211; Zimbabwe&#8217;s crackdown on illicit drug trafficking has reached a boiling point, causing chaos at border crossings and disrupting regional trade routes.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11503,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11501\/revisions\/11503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}