Local Government and Public Works Minister, Daniel Garwe, has alleged that the second-hand clothing trade has been infiltrated by drug syndicates, who are using imported bales as a cover to smuggle narcotics into Zimbabwe.
Speaking to Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials on Friday, 8 August, Garwe reiterated his recent announcement of a ban on the sale of second-hand garments and night vending. This move follows the 2024 prohibition on the importation of second-hand clothes.
He said the ban was prompted by the urgent need to dismantle a criminal network that is not only fuelling drug abuse, but also undermining Zimbabwe’s textile industry. He said:
“The bales coming into the country are carrying drugs. It’s one of the routes being used to bring narcotics into
“Zimbabwe, while some are even bringing in bed bugs. We witnessed this in Harare recently.”
Garwe said that the importation of second-hand clothes has devastated the cotton industry, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs—particularly in Bulawayo, once a hub for thriving textile firms.
He warned that the second-hand clothing market and night vending have become fronts for an underworld cartel “dominated by drugs and substance abuse that is affecting our children.” Added Garwe:
“It is those within the rank and file of vendors who are causing these problems.
“They are highly mobile, never operating from a fixed location, which makes them difficult to track.”
Garwe stressed that, while the government respects the economic contribution of vendors, it will not tolerate criminal infiltration. He added:
“In October last year, through the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Government banned the importation of second-hand clothes.
“Subsequently, the selling of second-hand clothes and night vending has also been banned.”
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