Pretoria - Nyaope with a street value of R11 000 was confiscated in the CBD on Tuesday after police acted on a tip-off and cornered a man as he was about to make a delivery.
Members of the South African Police Service were driving in unmarked vehicles near the intersection of Paul Kruger and Bloed streets when they spotted the man.
“We quickly identified ourselves and then moved with him from that very congested area to one with less traffic and fewer people before we started searching him,” Warrant Officer Rass Hamilton said. He initially denied having drugs on him, but when a police sniffer dog got into the car it indicated to the stash hidden in the stuffing of one of the back seats.
“We are hoping to get some information on the identity of his suppliers and the address of the place he collects his nyaope from,” the officer said, adding that they did know that the major supplier of Pretoria dealers was in Joburg.
Nyaope is the latest drug on the market and is highly addictive.
It is also easily accessible and cheap, and can be bought for as little as R30 for a single roll.
The composition of the abused drug has evolved over the past 15 or so years of its existence, being known to include a mixture of heroin, rat poison, ARVs, cleaning detergents and other toxic agents.
Nyaope was criminalised by an amendment to the anti-drug laws last year, an action hailed as noble by stakeholders.
The nyaope industry is said to be a multimillion-rand business run predominantly by Nigerians and has managed to infiltrate all sectors of society, including schools.
It is the drug of choice on the streets of many townships in Pretoria and is said to have the young in a strong grip. The rise of nyaope had reportedly increased the incidence of crime as users steal and kill to get their next fix.
Nyaope has also been blamed for the fragmentation of society and the break-up of families as abusers become emotionally detached from their families and life as they know it. They often leave home to live on the street or with dealers, suppliers and other users.
Hamilton said the drugs seized on Tuesday would be sent to the police forensics laboratory for testing, a process which can take anything up to three months.
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Pretoria News