An unrepentant notorious drug dealer who received a three-year prison sentence with hard labor in 2019 for trafficking marijuana has been found guilty of the same crime this 2023.
Unrepentant drug dealer sentenced to ten years in prison
Allan Muvundo, 29, will now serve a minimum 10-year sentence because he is a repeat offender. Muvundo pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and three other offenses. Yesterday, Lusaka Magistrate Keggan Litiya sent him to the High Court for sentencing.
The defendant, in this case, was accused of five counts of drug trafficking, evading capture, and illegally using a vehicle. Five months ago, during an interrogation, the suspect fled the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) headquarters while brandishing a pistol, sending officers scrambling in terror.
Muvundo was apprehended after a search and later appeared in court to answer five charges. According to to count one, Muvundo allegedly trafficked 6 grams of cannabis illegally in Lusaka on December 20, 2022.
According to count two, the defendant is accused of illegally trafficking 0.57 grams of cocaine on the same day. According to claims made in court three, on December 20, 2022, Muvundo used an unregistered Toyota Vitz to transport, conceal, and carry psychotropic drugs without a valid license.
In count four, it is alleged that on the same day, as he fled the DEC offices, the defendant behaved in a way that was likely to disturb the peace in a public area. Last but not least, it is claimed that Muvundo, a lawfully in the custody of DEC officers, escaped from that custody on the same date.
The court was informed by the evidence that DEC had been looking for the accused in drug trafficking.
When officers went to East Park Mall in July of last year after receiving information from DEC investigators that the accused was trafficking in drugs at the mall, they encountered Muvundo, who immediately fled in a Vitz that he left in Kalingalinga after running out of gas.
In his abandoned car, authorities discovered a pistol with 26 rounds of ammo and some marijuana-looking substances.
The daring defendant went to DEC officers to claim his impounded car in the same month. Still, while being questioned, he confronted them before fleeing while brandishing a pistol.
Magistrate Litiya sentenced Muvundo to nine months in prison for counts three through five. However, the magistrate committed Muvundo to the High Court for sentencing because counts one and two carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison for a second drug trafficker like Muvundo.
Judges are not allowed to impose sentences longer than nine years.
