A Harare man has been arrested in connection with a consignment of 2 100 bottles of Broncleer cough syrup, commonly abused as an illicit drug, which was intercepted by police at a roadblock.

Rodrick Chambe (39) of Dzivaresekwa Extension appeared before Harare Magistrate Ms Winifred Tiatara.

Broncleer, popularly known as "Bronco", is frequently abused as a recreational drug due to its codeine content, which can cause addiction when misused.

Prosecutor Mrs Mandirasa Chigumira, outlined the case.

On Tuesday last week, at around 8 pm, detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics Division in Harare received a tip-off that a Toyota Quantum vehicle with South African registration plates was transporting a suspicious consignment from Bulawayo to Harare via the Harare-Bulawayo highway.

The detectives intercepted the vehicle at the Kadoma tollgate around 10pm. Upon questioning, the driver revealed that the consignment was destined for Harare and was to be collected by a person identified only as Chambe.

At approximately 3am on April 2, detectives lured Chambe to the Exhibition Park, Zimbabwe Agricultural Showgrounds, along Samora Machel Avenue West, to collect the consignment.

Upon his arrival, Chambe was arrested and the vehicle was taken to Harare Central Police Station where a search was conducted in his presence.

The search revealed 42 boxes containing 2 100 bottles of 100ml Broncleer cough syrup, an unregistered medicine in Zimbabwe.

The consignment, which has an estimated street value of US$16 400, was seized, and Chambe taken into custody.

Chambe and the seized medicines were handed over to the CID Drugs and Narcotics Division for further processing.