Letter: Beware ‘people’s hero’ drug lords

THE evils spread by the likes of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, above left in life and, right, sprawled dead across roof tiles, are a cancer in society.

THE evils spread by the likes of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, above left in life and, right, sprawled dead across roof tiles, are a cancer in society.

Published Jan 20, 2019

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Letter - IT is ironic that when the SAPS and its allied forces launched a sting operation at the home of alleged local drug kingpin it was the 25th anniversary of the killing of the king of kings of international drug trafficking, Pablo Escobar.

Like the alleged local drug lord, he was a people’s hero to the down-trodden and poverty-stricken of the jungles of Colombia. He traded on a policy known as “plata o plomo” (silver or lead).

If one refused the silver then one got the lead! In the local ensuing fracas at Taurus Street, Shallcross, two civilians were shot, a police rifle was stolen and recovered, police officers were assaulted and several police vehicles were damaged when an angry mob of around 200 community members attacked the police head-on.

The drug problem is not unique to South Africa as it is a global problem and no society is immune from this social evil.

Many decades ago, we had a ranch-style set-up in Greenbury, Phoenix, called The High Chaparral, fully kitted with a look-out guard on the rooftop and roving stewards who served you in the comfort of your car.

Drug merchants are clever, cunning and discreet.

They are populist criminals whose activities disturb no one locally but just add to the prosperity of the region.

Villains are known to provide weekly meals, food hampers, security and transportation for the hustlers.

The assistance goes further in that weddings and funerals are paid for and arrears for rental, electricity, and water are sorted after careful vetting.

Our youth are ravaged by drugs and long-departed element of life.

The Hawks must be complimented for arresting another alleged kingpin, Yaseen Mohammed, in December at his flat in uMhlanga where R1.5million in heroin and mandrax were seized.

I am still trying to put gilding on the Shallcross incident.

No matter how justifiable the community feels about their actions, their actions in abetting a criminal investigation are wrong.

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