Kelsea Tadiwa Tafirenyika, the 22-year-old second wife of Collins Mnangagwa, spent Wednesday night in police holding cells after Harare magistrates declined to release her immediately on drug dealing allegations.
Tafirenyika appeared before a Harare magistrate on Wednesday and was remanded in custody until Thursday for a formal bail hearing. Prosecutors argued that freeing her could interfere with ongoing investigations into a suspected drug supply network.
Police detectives from the CID Drugs and Narcotics unit arrested her on Tuesday night at her Greystone Park residence. Officers said they found her counting ampoules in her bedroom and seized 154 ampoules of pethidine, 50 ampoules of morphine sulphate, and five rolls of dagga. A small quantity of the pethidine was reportedly intended for foreign markets.
In an affidavit opposing bail, Detective Sergeant Neverd Charuma said the supplier has not yet been arrested and releasing Tafirenyika could allow her to re-establish contact or flee. The State also noted the seriousness of the offence and the likely custodial sentence. The magistrate set the bail hearing for Thursday.