Durban - Getting an address wrong proved costly for a Durban drug runner when he knocked on the door of a police officer’s house instead of a drug dealer he was supposed to deliver to.
The man was found to be carrying mandrax tablets.
Acting Captain Anthony McVie said he was preparing for work when he heard a knock on the door.
McVie said the man asked for a known drug dealer in the area and the officer told him to go away.
McVie and fellow police officer Constable Junaid Moodley, who was also in the house, felt that the man looked suspicious and followed him to his car.
He said they searched the man and found packets of tablets on him. He was arrested on the spot.
Officers at Wentworth police station said the 26-year-old was carrying 200 mandrax tablets worth about R8000 on the street.
He is expected to appear in Wentworth Magistrate’s Court soon.
Deputy mayor Fawzia Peer welcomed the arrest.
She said it was sad that a young man was sent by druglords to do their dirty work.
“Drugs are ravaging our society and destroying the future of our society,” she said.
Peer said police officers went to the home of the man and found an unlicensed gun and ammunition in addition to more drugs.
Peer said they also discovered that the gun had been used in a shooting last month in Durban’s CBD.
She added that she was shocked at the discoveries.
Metro police spokesperson Parboo Sewpersad said Wentworth was one of the areas that the SAPS would focus on in the fight against drugs.
He commended the work of McVie and Moodley.
Sewpersad said that community members should help in the fight against drug abuse in the area by reporting matters to and communi- cating with the community police forum (CPF).
Donny Anderson, Wentworth CPF chairperson, said drug use was a way of life in the area and on the rise, fuelling many crimes.
He noted that drug abuse was so pervasive that it had almost become the norm.
He said dealers sold all types of drugs.
Anderson said, however, that gangsterism had decreased.
He said the police were putting up a strong fight against the sale of drugs.
Anderson said the community needed to come together to fight the scourge.
The Daily News reported last month that five dealers were expected to appear in the Wentworth Magistrate’s Court after being found in possession of rock cocaine and dagga, among other drugs.