Hawks’ R30m drug bust

The Hawks have made a second significant drug bust in less than a week.

Just days after seizing MDMA (ecstasy powder) worth an estimated R6.3 million in Cape Town, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation intercepted a haul of cocaine worth more than R30.4 million at a fuel station near Cape Town.

Thirty-eight 1kg packages of cocaine were found when the truck was stopped on the N1 in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A 37-year-old man who had allegedly gone to the garage to pick up the drugs was arrested. He is expected to appear in court today.

Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase said preliminary investigations have revealed the container was brought into the country from abroad and “transited through different provinces before making its way to Cape Town”.

Nkwalase said the driver of the truck had not been arrested as the company was unwittingly used in transporting the cocaine.

Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, the head of the Hawks, said the latest bust shows “that the supply chains of organised criminal groups have been severed”.

On Thursday, Hawks officers, working with police and South African Revenue Service customs officials, found ecstasy powder and tablets valued at more than R6.3 million hidden in a container carrying a consignment of furniture from Europe.

After seizing the drugs at Cape Town Harbour, investigators proceeded to Durbanville, where they arrested a 30-year-old man. – News24 Wire