Durban - In one of Durban’s largest drug busts, police and SA Revenue Service officials have seized 95kg of pure cocaine worth about R28.5 million.
Police made the bust at the Durban harbour on Tuesday night after receiving information on narcotics being trafficked to Durban from Buenos Aires.
The cocaine had been packed in a shipping container, “piggybacking” with legitimate cargo.
A well-placed source within the Durban Organised Crime Unit said they had received information that cocaine was being smuggled in a container from the Argentinian capital aboard the ship, Cap San Tainaro.
According to reports received by the unit, the ship was supposed to leave on September 5 and was expected in Durban on September 25. Due to unforeseen circumstances, which police were reluctant to elaborate on, the ship only arrived on September 30.
After investigators had been tipped off about the container’s identification code, police and members of the SA Revenue Service Custom and Excise unit placed a detention order on it so it could be searched.
Further investigations led to the discovery of 95 bricks of the drug – each with the same dimensions of a regular building brick.
The bricks, which had been wrapped in plastic and taped to make them watertight, were each embossed with the emblem of a stallion’s head.
“The bricks – which were ‘uncut’, or adulterated with other substances – were packed into carry bags, which were placed at the entrance of the container,” said a well-placed source.
The source said the syndicate had used a “rip on or off” strategy, which involved the removal of a legitimate container’s seal so the drugs could be placed inside, ready for quick removal.
The seal on the container was tampered with and changed. The documentation and other goods in the container were legitimate and destined for a SA company, said the source, adding that “piggybacking” on other commodities legally being brought into the country showed the vulnerability of the containers to security breaches.
After the drugs were found, experts were summoned to the scene where they processed it for fingerprints, DNA and took photographs for analysis.
“The interim report that process provided confirmed it was cocaine.”
He added: “It is estimated that each block weighs about 1kg and therefore the total is approximately 95kg. When considering that each kilogram is sold for between R300 000 and R350 000 per kg, the estimated value of the drugs could be approximately R28.5 million.
“This is a significant seizure and a huge blow to the trafficking syndicate. It shows that in collaboration with the various organisations, we can achieve successes regarding international smuggling networks at our ports of entry. We are, however, at this stage still following up leads on possible suspects in this matter.”
Those involved in the bust hailed it as a “major blow” to the syndicate involved.
“Remember that this massive haul has now been taken off the streets. This is quite a dent made in the supply.”
Other large cocaine busts have been made in recent years elsewhere in the country, but this is one of KZN’s largest, according to police.
In its latest monthly bulletin on customs successes, Sars said more than 68kg of cocaine valued at over R19.7m had been stopped from entering the country in August.
More than 16kg, valued at over R4.6m, was intercepted on a male passenger transiting through OR Tambo International Airport from Sao Paulo to Lagos. It was concealed in batteries in his luggage.
Officials found 9kg of cocaine on a man on the same route, concealed in containers of deodorant and baby powder. A woman was stopped with 8kg cocaine concealed in handbags in her luggage as she arrived from Sao Paulo. Again, on the Sao Paulo-Johannesburg-Lagos flights, 7kg was found in tinned food cans carried by a man.
Cans of fruit were used to smuggle 6.6kg. A man flying from Sao Paulo to Johannesburg was arrested.
Sars said handbags containing 6.27kg of cocaine were also found. A man flying from Sao Paulo, via Johannesburg to Kinshasa, was stopped.
A black bag containing 25 packets of cocaine was found near Mossel Bay in December last year.
The bag was found in the water offshore Hartenbos beach attached to a rope that was attached to an object.
It contained 25 packets of cocaine with a street value of R8m.
Provincial police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, confirmed the chain of events that led to the bust. No arrests had been made.
Daily News