. Musalale commonly known as ‘Seven Spirit’

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE
NOTORIOUS drug trafficker, Gerald Musalale commonly known as ‘Seven Spirit’ has been convicted and jailed to 12 months with hard labour for selling and using narcotic drugs.
Senior resident magistrate Mwaka Mikalile jailed Musalale of Chibolya Township yesterday after he admitted that he engaged in buying and reselling cocaine and marijuana.
Ms Mikalile said she could not imagine how many people  in society have been affected by Musalale’s ‘business’ of selling drugs, especially the youth who would engage in illegal activities such as stealing after using the drugs.
It was because of using drugs such as marijuana that some people committed offences of defiling young girls.
Musalale was charged with trafficking in narcotic drugs namely 29.8 grammes of cocaine and psychotropic substances weighing 966.6 grammes of marijuana, a herbal product of cannabis sativa.
Ms Mikalile said that although she had exercised lenience on Musalale, the offences he committed were serious and offenders needed to be punished to put a stop to such acts.
She ordered Musalale to serve 12 months in each of the two counts but they will run concurrently which means, Musalale would only serve 12 months from July 7, 2014 the date he was arrested.
Musalale was arrested in Chibolya by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) undercover team after conducting a search in the township to weed out drugs.
He had disguised himself by wearing a shaggy wig but the officers still apprehended him and found a plastic bag containing the drugs he was selling as well as using on himself.
Musalale who is already serving a nine months jail term for another drug offence had initially pleaded not guilty to the two counts.
In mitigation he pleaded with the court to exercise lenience on him as he was the bread winner of his family and a father of five school going children.
Musalale who was clad in a white robe was later walked back to Chimbokaila Prison by a warder.