DURBAN - IN SIX weeks the SAPS and Hawks have cracked the whip on the drug trade and drug use in KwaZulu-Natal, seizing millions in heroin, crystal meth, cocaine, methcathinone, other drugs and paraphernalia.
The latest drug haul, on Thursday morning, resulted in the arrest of Haji Amanzi, 26, and Morisey Mwakasala, 44, who were speeding on the N3 towards Durban. When police stopped their vehicle and searched it, drugs were found in a hidden compartment.
Police seized 22 bags containing heroin, crystal meth and R5 000 in cash. The estimated street value of the recovered drugs is R3 580 500. The men appeared in the Camperdown Magistrate’s Court on Friday for drug dealing.
The case was postponed until April 22, said Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo.
Some of the seizures included 85 moons of rock cocaine, 3.7kg of cocaine powder and 15 spice bottles with rock cocaine worth an estimated R1.5 million; heroin, a digital scale and 495 green plastic loops of heroin, worth an estimated R400 000; heroin worth an estimated R345 000; and 2 488 ecstasy tablets and 408.3 grams of cocaine powder, worth an estimated R292 185. The other drug hauls were worth between R20 000 and R85 610, made up of heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, mandrax and ecstasy pills.
Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Richard Chelin said the recent hauls indicated that Durban was providing a good market for the drugs that were discovered, but it could also mean that police were receiving and acting on better information and/or organised criminal groups were “upping their game”.
He said one of the issues they faced was that there was a lack of survey data on people who used drugs in South Africa.
“The drugs seized represent the drug available on the illicit drug market at the moment in Durban,” said Chelin.
Anti-Drug Forum SA chief social worker Shantal Bechoo said the mammoth quantity of the seizure along with the frequency of seizures was indicative of the high demand for illicit substances in Durban. The supply-demand rate was directly correlated. More users along with increased tolerance with substance intake created ideal grounds for commercialisation of the drug trade.
“The concern is the easy availability and access to illicit substances in Durban. The seizures paint a grim outlook on the current state of trade and use in the city. Supply and demand reduction strategies need to be urgently implemented to curb the situation,” Bechoo said.
Last month, the Hawks arrested Kingsley Ike Ikedi, 44, for manufacturing drugs in Pinetown after finding equipment used to manufacture drugs, chemicals and powder suspected to be methcathinone. The street value of the seized paraphernalia and drugs was approximately R1 497 000.
Chelin said the methcathinone bust was something for concern and law enforcement agencies needed to keep it on their radar.
He said methcathinone was a new drug and it was quite difficult to determine if it was already on the street or not, and whether it was for local consumption or shipment.
Meanwhile, during their Operation Corona for Border Safeguarding, SANDF soldiers confiscated drugs to the value of R26 393 531 in four provinces – KZN, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and Free State – between January 1 and March 31.
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