Cape Town - South African Police Service (SAPS) officers in the Western Cape have arrested two men and confiscated drugs worth over R600,000 (about US$39,225) in two separate incidents this weekend, the SAPS in the province said on Sunday.
Concerted efforts to eradicate drug trafficking as well as the distribution of drugs into communities in the Western Cape again yielded positive results when police confiscated 6000 Mandrax tablets with an estimated street value of R300,000 in George," SAPS Western Cape spokesperson Sergeant Chris Spies said in a statement.
SAPS members attached to the provincial organised crime detectives narcotics section responded at about 11.40 am on Saturday to information about a motorcyclist who was enroute from Cape Town with a consignment of drugs.
"The motorcyclist noticed the police members while entering George and turned onto an off-ramp in an attempt to evade the police. A chase ensued and the vigilant members managed to stop (blocked in) the motorcycle at Knysna Road, George."
Upon searching the suspect, the officers found the consignment of Mandrax tablets in his possession. The police confiscated the drugs and arrested the suspect on a charge of dealing in drugs. The 35-year-old man was still in custody and would appear in the George Magistrates’ Court on Monday on drug-related charges, Spies said.
In an unrelated incident, a man was arrested for possession of 160 kg of dagga with a street value of about R320,000 at a roadblock outside Beaufort West on Friday night, SAPS Western Cape spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said in a separate statement.
"In a bid to tighten the grip on crime, Beaufort West police with the narcotics team attached to provincial detectives executed a vehicle checkpoint on the N1 outside the Karoo town on Friday evening."
As part of the operation, police searched a minibus taxi travelling from the Eastern Cape at 9.30 pm and discovered six bags filled with dagga weighing 160 kg in the trailer. A 51-year-old suspect was arrested. He would appear in the Beaufort West Magistrates' Court on Monday on charges of dealing in dagga, Potelwa said.
- African News Agency (ANA)