Johannesburg - The Hawks have shut down a dagga lab in Brits after discovering over 500kg worth of cannabis estimated to be worth R3-million.
The arrest comes a week after police sent out a stern warning to members of the public that selling of dagga will still get you jail time.
The Hawks together with members of the Forensic Science Laboratory and Local Criminal Record Centre swooped on the lab on Saturday.
“The suspect who allegedly also sells franchises for cannabis dispensaries is a major supplier of cannabis and related products in the country,” said Captain Tlangelani Rikhotso.
Hydroponic tunnels for cannabis cultivation, various apparatus for processing and oil extraction and other numerous cannabis products, were subsequently seized.
The dagga found in the Brits lab. Picture: SAPS Twitter
"The investigation aims to clamp down on the unlawful mushrooming of Cannabis dispensaries around the country which are purporting to be operating legally in terms of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act (No. 22 of 2007)," Rikhotso said.
The suspect will appear at the Brits Magistrate’s court on Monday for contravening the Medicine and Related Substances Act and dealing in dagga.
Last week, police released a joint statement together with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) on the issue of cannabis.
The statement said the police were mandated to and will act not only against businesses that sell cannabis illegally but also against the customers who buy these products.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said some of these illegal businesses, purporting to be operating legally in terms of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act (THPA) (No. 22 of 2007), were also being sold to members of the public as franchises authorised to deal in cannabis and cannabis-related products.