Many Tanzanian youth are increasingly being lured into drug trafficking,
with hundreds of them currently languishing in overseas jails, mostly
in Asian countries. Anti-drug enforcers are warning that drug lords are
turning the country into a pivotal supply point for consignments to
South Africa, Europe, Asia and the US. PHOTO| FILE
In Summary
His recruiter, Michael (not his real name), was
by then a notorious retailer, supplying drugs to addicts in the streets
of Magomeni Mapipa and Mwembechai.
Dar es Salaam. At only 24, Juma (not his real
name) is an experienced drug peddler, with seven years to his experience
in the underworld of the illicit business.
Juma resides in the Magomeni Mapipa suburb.
Alongside Magomeni-Mwembechai, Kinondoni and Ilala neighbourhoods, they
are worst affected by the growing drug trade in Dar es Salaam. The
number of young men and women involved in drug dealing from these areas
is shocking.
Reports on incidents of Tanzanian youths arrested
and jailed overseas for drug trafficking have been on a trajectory, with
warnings that drug lords were endangering the wellbeing of the nation
and threatening the country’s stability.
In June this year, the Immigration department
released a list of 35 Tanzanians who had finished serving jail sentences
in Lahore and Rawalpindi prisons in Pakistan for drug offences and had
been stuck there awaiting repatriation. Out of the 35, seventeen are
from Dar es Salaam, with Ilala alone accounting for nine of these
convicts.
Following a leaked letter by a Tanzanian drug
courier imprisoned in Hong Kong in which he listed reported drug barons
and warned the youth against joining the trade, The Citizen on Sunday
traced Juma who gave an account of how youth were recruited and hooked into the trade.
He pointed out that winning the war against
traffickers whom he said were well established, would be an extremely
uphill task. Juma was recruited in 2006 aged only 17 by a close friend
and neighbour. He was still a secondary school student. “We knew each
other very well, he was more of a brother to me,” said Juma.
His recruiter, Michael (not his real name), was by
then a notorious retailer, supplying drugs to addicts in the streets of
Magomeni Mapipa and Mwembechai.
Juma’s first task in the business was to unpack
‘the stuff’ from 100 grammes bundles and re-package them into small
plastic bags to be sold for Sh1000 to Sh1500.
“The job was not as easy as it may sound, just
packing and repackaging. It is very difficult, I know of people who quit
after their first experience,” he said.
The repackaging process
is done in a room with poor circulation of air to prevent the expensive
drugs from being blown away. It also must be done in a mirror,
preferably a windscreen, where the drugs are placed and repacked into
small bags using sharp razor blade thin-sidebars.
Juma says the logic of using a windscreen is to
avoid contaminating drugs and preserving its quality. Unpacking and
repackaging of one bundle could take an amateur up to two hours and only half an hour for a pro.
“I was paid Sh25,000 per bundle at the beginning
and the amount reached Sh35,000 when I stopped repackaging in 2009.”
Juma was making good money, ending with Sh150,000 on a good day. “But it
is not an everyday work, it really depends on supply, and you can go
dry for a whole week without any assignment.”
As a teenager, the cash inflow was more than enough for Juma to
afford small luxuries. He eventually failed in his form four exams and
with nothing to do in the streets, he took drug peddling seriously as
his sole engagement.
The business, he says, requires loyalty and trust
than capital. With the interactions he made in the business circles in
the neighbourhood, he quickly rose from peddling to trafficking by the
time he was aged 20. His maiden journey took him to South Africa. It was
an arduous five day trip on the road with drugs in his belly.
Since then he has made numerous trips to South
Africa, Brazil, Italy, India and Pakistan. He couldn’t openly reveal his
current fortune but admits that he is leading a comfortable life that
most of his agemates can’t afford.
The role models
Drug traffickers are apparently known and
respected by many youths in the estates. Their neighbourhoods are
predominantly resided by poor and middle class families. Their standards
are measured through lavish lifestyle, dressing in designer clothes,
driving flashy cars and flying overseas frequently.
“I know there are a number of young men
who envy me, some have come to me and asked for help. But I am always
careful; this is not an easy thing that anyone can do,” he said.
“You know majority of us down here didn’t receive
good education, and as such, the unemployment rate is very high. It is
very understandable to see other young people attracted to this trade
because of our lifestyle.”
Juma’s recruiter (Michael) fell in the same trap; he was running a small retail shop
in the street and struggled to make ends meet. His friends however were
transporting drugs in and out of the country. They had money, cars and
had built houses.
Michael grew up and went to school with the now
wealthy friends; they were always available to help and every time he
experienced financial difficulties he sought their assistance.
Slowly, he grew accustomed to the business. He
started by hiding the drugs brought in by his buddies for a handsome
payment. Later he became part and parcel of their cartel.
A 25 year old university student and resident of
Ilala, labelled notorious by the traffickers, believes that with the
influence the traffickers enjoy, it would be impossible to keep them off
the streets.
“Look, you have this friend of yours; you are all
poor, uneducated and unemployed. He decides to join the business, next
thing you hear from him is that he is going overseas; he comes back
loaded with cash, courting beautiful ladies, driving and buying all that
you can imagine. What happens next is this other poor fellow joining
him and that way the chain continues to lengthen.” “The money-bagged
drug lords are not coming to recruit down here, many of my friends who
are in the business have not met the real players in the market, and
some don’t even know them. It is these middle agents and traffickers who
are used to attract more youths to the business.”
he university student confessed he was approached by one courier who told him that with his English proficiency, he would hit it big as it was easy to beat all immigration blocks at international airports. “I however refused and was very angry with the suggestion. I am told he is currently jailed in China.”
he university student confessed he was approached by one courier who told him that with his English proficiency, he would hit it big as it was easy to beat all immigration blocks at international airports. “I however refused and was very angry with the suggestion. I am told he is currently jailed in China.”
The worst part of the business, according to Juma,
is that society embraces them: “Some of us are very committed to our
families, providing daily bread, good health care and education. Who
doesn’t need that? At the end we are loved and accepted by our own and
other beneficiaries.”
At Michael’s neighbourhood in Ilala, there is a
story of how a religious leader was excommunicated for associating
himself with drugs. His brother is a well-known notorious trafficker and
the cleric not only failed to stop him but was seen openly driving his
cars and getting well with him.
A very dangerous business
“When you join this business at any level, the
first thing you should expect is to spend some time of your life in
jail, secondly being crossed and even killed or finally land
success,” says Juma. “If you will be blindly driven by success and
ignore the hard part of the game, this is not for you and the reality
will soon knock you down.”
As a courier, his worst fear is falling in the
hands of security forces abroad and thrown into jail. “Most families of
those arrested or jailed abroad suffer double tragedy by not having
their kin around and the sketchy information about their cases and legal
assistance.
The news of arrests is mostly broken to families
through other couriers. The matter often ends at that as those back home
don’t alert authorities for fear of landing in trouble. According to
Juma, hosts in the foreign countries usually take off once they fail to makecontact at the airport.
He points to information from Tanzania Drugs
Control Commission showing there are more than 200 Tanzanian prisoners
in China, 90 per cent of the cases involving drugs. “No one there would
attempt to inquire about their fate because they will likely be arrested
for association and collusion.
In his maiden international trip, Juma swallowed
pellets of heroin and crossed three borders from Dar es Salaam to
Johannesburg. Due to stomach complications, he was forced three times to
eject and swallow them again. “Can you imagine how hard and irritating
the whole process
is- some people are dying in the process- but in the name of money that
is very possible and a routine experience for couriers.”
Juma’s last overseas tour was to Italy in early
February this year. He was arrested and put behind bars for five months.
“Police raided the area; luckily I had no drugs at the time. They took
me to my hotel room
and found nothing; they detained me for questioning but I maintained
that I was innocent and was lucky that no one from their list of
suspects came to enquire about me. At last they released me and
compensated me for all the time I spent in jail.”
According to Juma, when he arrived back home in
July, he had to rethink about his future and now wants to transform his
life. “I thought I was so smart, but I am not. I don’t have colossal
amounts of money to shape the market, and I have realised at my age, the
money I have made is enough to exit the door.”
Juma admits he will still be in the business for a
while but at a retail level that doesn’t entail frequent travel and
much easier to conduct. He has established a hardware shop and a second
hand vehicle import businesses that are doing better than drugs.
he university student confessed he was approached by one courier who told him that with his English proficiency, he would hit it big as it was easy to beat all immigration blocks at international airports. “I however refused and was very angry with the suggestion. I am told he is currently jailed in China.”
he university student confessed he was approached by one courier who told him that with his English proficiency, he would hit it big as it was easy to beat all immigration blocks at international airports. “I however refused and was very angry with the suggestion. I am told he is currently jailed in China.”
The worst part of the business, according to Juma,
is that society embraces them: “Some of us are very committed to our
families, providing daily bread, good health care and education. Who
doesn’t need that? At the end we are loved and accepted by our own and
other beneficiaries.”
At Michael’s neighbourhood in Ilala, there is a
story of how a religious leader was excommunicated for associating
himself with drugs. His brother is a well-known notorious trafficker and
the cleric not only failed to stop him but was seen openly driving his
cars and getting well with him.
A very dangerous business
“When you join this business at any level, the
first thing you should expect is to spend some time of your life in
jail, secondly being crossed and even killed or finally land
success,” says Juma. “If you will be blindly driven by success and
ignore the hard part of the game, this is not for you and the reality
will soon knock you down.”
As a courier, his worst fear is falling in the
hands of security forces abroad and thrown into jail. “Most families of
those arrested or jailed abroad suffer double tragedy by not having
their kin around and the sketchy information about their cases and legal
assistance.
The news of arrests is mostly broken to families
through other couriers. The matter often ends at that as those back home
don’t alert authorities for fear of landing in trouble. According to
Juma, hosts in the foreign countries usually take off once they fail to makecontact at the airport.
He points to information from Tanzania Drugs
Control Commission showing there are more than 200 Tanzanian prisoners
in China, 90 per cent of the cases involving drugs. “No one there would
attempt to inquire about their fate because they will likely be arrested
for association and collusion.
In his maiden international trip, Juma swallowed
pellets of heroin and crossed three borders from Dar es Salaam to
Johannesburg. Due to stomach complications, he was forced three times to
eject and swallow them again. “Can you imagine how hard and irritating
the whole process
is- some people are dying in the process- but in the name of money that
is very possible and a routine experience for couriers.”
Juma’s last overseas tour was to Italy in early
February this year. He was arrested and put behind bars for five months.
“Police raided the area; luckily I had no drugs at the time. They took
me to my hotel room
and found nothing; they detained me for questioning but I maintained
that I was innocent and was lucky that no one from their list of
suspects came to enquire about me. At last they released me and
compensated me for all the time I spent in jail.”
According to Juma, when he arrived back home in
July, he had to rethink about his future and now wants to transform his
life. “I thought I was so smart, but I am not. I don’t have colossal
amounts of money to shape the market, and I have realised at my age, the
money I have made is enough to exit the door.”
Juma admits he will still be in the business for a
while but at a retail level that doesn’t entail frequent travel and
much easier to conduct. He has established a hardware shop and a second
hand vehicle import businesses that are doing better than drugs.
Source: The citizen
Source: The citizen
