THE Livingstone High Court has sentenced a 36-year-old man of Choma to five years imprisonment with hard labour for drug trafficking.

And Judge Kenneth Mulife has observed that drug related cases were on the rise lately.

In this case, Doubt Mwiinga, 36, of Shampande Compound is charged with two counts of trafficking in 74.48 kilogrammes of heroin and 20.3 kilogrammes of marijuana contrary to the laws of Zambia.

Mwiinga was arrested in Choma on June 1, this year for the subject offences and pleaded guilty when he appeared in court. He was later sentenced to four years in the first count and five years in the second count, the offences which were scheduled to run consecutively.

In passing judgement, Judge Mulife imposed a five year sentence on Mwiinga to run from June 4, 2019, the date he was arrested.

Judge Mulife, who observed that drug-related cases were on the rise lately, said the court was, therefore, mandated to impose custodial sentences to deter would-be offenders.