Cape Town - Police officers and City of Cape Town law enforcement officers have arrested 30 suspects and confiscated drugs worth millions of rand, as well as illegal firearms and ammunition, in various operations in Cape Town overnight, the South African Police Services (SAPS) in the Western Cape said on Saturday.
"Our endeavours to break the back of the lucrative drug trade in this province led to the discovery of drugs valued at R4 million and the arrest of three suspects during the early hours of this morning [Saturday]," Colonel Andrè Traut said in a statement.
Officers attached to the SAPS public order policing (POP) unit followed up on a tip-off that a vehicle was scheduled to make a drug delivery in Elsies River, and conducted a vehicle checkpoint in the area, he said.
The vehicle in question, a Toyota Etios, was stopped and searched, which resulted in the arrest of the three men, aged between 32 and 41, for being in possession of 35 160 Mandrax tablets and 4.3kg of tik (crystal methamphetamine).
In Kleinvlei, members of the same unit arrested a 34-year-old man for being in possession of 30 Mandrax tablets after they also reacted to a tip-off on Friday night, Traut said.
And in another unrelated operation, members of the SAPS Western Cape provincial integrated team arrested a 37-year-old woman in Bontebok Street in Scottsdene in Kraaifontein at about 10.45pm on Friday night for being in possession of an illegal 9mm pistol and ammunition, as well as 4.14 grammes of tik and 66.38 grammes of Mandrax.
"From there, the members proceeded to Eerste Avenue, Kraaifontein, where a 52-year-old man was arrested for the possession of 84 Mandrax tablets and R1100 cash, believed to be the proceeds of crime," Traut said.
In Lingelethu West, officers attached to the SAPS crime prevention unit on patrol spotted a white BMW late on Friday night and stopped the car for an inspection. The vigilance of the officers was rewarded with the discovery of three illegal firearms. All six occupants of the car, all aged in their 20s, were arrested for being in possession of illegal firearms.
In Manenberg, SAPS and City of Cape Town law enforcement officers joined forces on Friday night in an integrated operation and arrested 18 suspects, aged between 18 and 51, for possession of a variety of drugs and "for being wanted on serious crimes".
All the arrested suspects were due to appear in various magistrates' courts around the city on Monday to face the charges against them. SAPS Western Cape management had expressed satisfaction at the outcome of these crime combatting initiatives and commended the various units for their selfless efforts to create a safer environment for the people of the Western Cape, Traut said.
African News Agency (ANA)