Nearly 50 bags of cocaine bricks with an estimated street value of R380 million have been seized at the Knysna waterfront, and two Chinese, a Taiwanese and two Capetonians have been arrested.
Police said the haul is believed to be one of the biggest in the province. They were unable to say where the drugs had been destined for, nor from where it had come.
“This bust was a result of a well-planned sting operation by crime intelligence and the Knysna police service after they received information from the public regarding illegal activities taking place near the Knysna Waterfront,” said Captain Malcolm Pojie.
On Friday, police swooped on a flat at the waterfront where the five suspects lived.
“After being interrogated, the suspects accompanied the police to their boat where the police discovered the 48 bags of bricked cocaine.”
Pojie said the boat was anchored next to the flat. The cocaine and the boat, worth approximately R1.5m, were confiscated.
By late yesterday afternoon police were still on the scene, combing the area for further clues.
“The investigation will be conducted by the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit, which is attached to the Hawks,” Pojie said.
The five suspects, aged between 30 and 47, will appear in the Knysna Magistrate’s Court tomorrow on a charge of dealing in cocaine.
Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer praised the Knysna police for the action which resulted in the huge drug haul.
“This is just one of the many efforts of the police to rid the Western Cape of drugs.”
l In Goodwood police arrested a man and confiscated tik (methamphetamine) with an estimated street value of R650 000 at a roadblock on Frans Conradie Drive yesterday.
“One of the members saw a man climbing out of his vehicle and putting a black bag next to the vehicle. When the member approached the man, he started running away,” said Captain FC van Wyk.
Police found the bag to be full of tik.
“The officer gave chase and arrested the suspect.
“A 34-year-old Nigerian will appear in the Goodwood Magistrate’s Court on Monday, on charges of dealing in drugs.”
* Meanwhile, the Metro Police Dog Unit foiled the plans of a suspected poacher when they caught him with perlemoen worth R100 000 in Somerset West yesterday.
Yolanda Faro, deputy chief of the Metro police, said officers had been conducting routine patrols in the area when they received a tip-off about a vehicle transporting perlemoen.
“The officers found the vehicle heading towards Somerset West on the R44. The unshelled perlemoen was found in six black bags in the boot of the vehicle,” she said.
The 33-year-old suspect was arrested and taken to the Somerset West police station and 233 perlemoen were confiscated.
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