DURBAN - While police were out on the streets making sure only essential service workers are driving around during the countrywide lockdown - two men transporting about 80kg of dagga hidden in a coffin, were arrested at a roadblock on the N2 near the Mavalane area in Pongola on Saturday morning.
According to a statement from the Pongola Vispol, SAPS members were conducting a 24 hour roadblock on the N2 road Mavalane when the vehicle was stopped. When asked for a permit to travel the two suspects produced a travel permit, which indicated they represented a funeral parlour and were ferrying a corpse.
“When searching in the presence of the motorist and the passenger, they opened the corpse and found many parcels of Dagga wrapped in sellotapes and underneath the coffin there were bags of Dagga as well which all in total were 30 bags that weighed 80kg. The two suspects, aged 32 and 34, were arrested and their vehicle confiscated. They are expected to appear in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday,” read the statement.
The vehicle, a white VITO Mercedes Benz that carried the coffin with Dagga, was circulated and found to belong to a rental car company in Boksburg Gauteng. Meanwhile, Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, said people who contravene the regulations face a jail sentence of up to six months, a fine, or both.
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