Charges against suspected drug dealers scrapped from roll

CHARGES against three young city residents accused of dealing in drugs and possession of stolen property was scrapped from the roll yesterday.

The three from an affluent city suburb appeared in the Kimberley Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where the charges were scrapped as a result of the police investigation into the matter being incomplete.

Charne Booth, 22, along with 30-year-old, Percy Higgo and Danie Hanekom, 22, were free to go following their brief appearance before Magistrate Dolly Mokoto.

At their previous appearance, the three were granted R500 bail which was not opposed by the prosecutor.

Information

Booth, Higgo and Hanekom were arrested in mid-October after members of the Kimberley SAPS Detectives unit followed up on information, received from the local Neighbourhood Watch, regarding illicit drug dealings in the city’s suburb, Minerva Gardens.

Their investigation lead them to the four-way stop on the corner of Gerrit Schouten and Jacobus Smit Avenues, at about 2pm on October 17, where they arrested Higgo, who was allegedly found in possession of two halves of a mandrax tablet and a scooter that is believed to have been stolen.

Police then proceeded to a house in Minerva Gardens where they found Booth and Hanekom as well as an assortment of drugs and paraphernalia, including dagga, tik, pipes and needles, with an estimated street value of R2500.