R500 000 drugs taken off Western Cape streets

Cape Town - 100806 - Mandrax and Dagga were found in a house in Silvertown - Roadblocks and House Raids were conducted in Athlone and Hanover Park as part of the continuation of Operation Razor and Operation Choke Executed by the Metro Police. 2 arrests were made in Athlone and Hanover park and Mandrax, Dagga and Heorin was siezed - Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Cape Town - 100806 - Mandrax and Dagga were found in a house in Silvertown - Roadblocks and House Raids were conducted in Athlone and Hanover Park as part of the continuation of Operation Razor and Operation Choke Executed by the Metro Police. 2 arrests were made in Athlone and Hanover park and Mandrax, Dagga and Heorin was siezed - Photo: Matthew Jordaan

Published Dec 3, 2012

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Cape Town - Western Cape law enforcement agencies seized drugs worth more than R500 000 over the past week, including 200 parcels of dagga found in the car boot of a Rawsonville man at a roadblock.

Lead SA, in collaboration with SAPS, Metro Police and Traffic and Provincial Traffic, kicked off Drug Watch last week to help clamp down on the drug trade, and give readers and listeners a way to report illegal drug activity.

Since the launch, more than R1million in drugs have been seized and about 3 000 arrests drug-related have been made.

Law enforcement agencies have intensified anti-drug efforts on the roads over the festive season after their success at Cape Town International Airport forced drug traffickers to move their trade onto national roads.

Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said dagga was found in the boot of a car belonging to a 41-year-old man who was arrested at the scene. He said the dagga was worth R182 000.

Van Wyk said they also arrested 1 349 people for drug-related offences during the past week.

This week’s drug busts totalled R500 506.

Some of the biggest busts were:

* Dagga worth R445 615

* Mandrax tablets worth R26 650

* Tik worth R13 625

* Heroin tablets worth R8 100

* Khat worth R5 900

Last week police seized drugs to the value of R590 673 and 1 625 people were arrested on various charges across the province.

Van Wyk said the areas where they made the biggest drug arrests were Mitchells Plain with 94 people, Manenberg with 88 people and Delft where 77 people were arrested.

In Kraaifontein 49 people were arrested while 42 people were arrested in the Cape Town CBD and 35 people in Gugulethu.

In Steenberg, 32 people were arrested, 31 people were arrested in Elsie’s River and 30 in Bishop Lavis and Milnerton respectively.

Director at Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre Ashley Potts said that about 70 percent of his patients were on tik, followed closely by heroin and dagga.

He was speaking in a video presented during the launch of Drug Watch.

Meanwhile Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee said they hope to use the Western Cape as a pilot project for Drug Watch over the next three months to see if they can take it to other parts of the country because “drug dealers are operating in all corners of South Africa”.

People also came forward with their stories including Valerie Le Bon, 50, who said that her 29-year-old son, Enrico, was addicted to cocaine and did not want to get help.

A Grassy Park man, Emmanuel Cooper, said his mother, Stella, had been missing since last month and a family member, who is addicted to tik and serving a sentence for housebreaking at Pollsmoor Prison prison, had confessed to killing her.

Van Wyk said on Sunday that they were still searching for Stella’s body.

Send anonymous tip-offs about illegal drug activity to Crime Line on 32211. SMSes cost R1.

[email protected]

Cape Argus

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