Huge drug busts at toll gate
Police roadblocks at the Tsitsikamma Toll Gate last week resulted in the confiscation of drugs worth more than half-a-million rand from passenger buses in two separate incidents, as well as the arrest of one woman. Southern Cape police spokesperson Sgt Christopher Spies said this followed efforts to eradicate trafficking at major entry points into the Western Cape. "The concerted efforts yielded positive results with the police confiscating drugs with an estimated street value of about R570 000 … on Friday 9 October at about 03:20."
Spies said in the first incident, members of the Eden Cluster Visible Policing unit and Tsitsikamma K9 unit stopped a passenger bus that was en route to Cape Town. "Upon searching the bus they found a suspicious suitcase in the luggage compartment of the bus. The suitcase was positively linked to a passenger that apparently boarded the bus in Port Elizabeth earlier. A further search resulted in the discovery of 3 955 Mandrax tablets and two plastic bags containing tik with an estimated street value of R310 000 in the suitcase," he said.
A 31-year-old woman was arrested on a charge of dealing in drugs.
A few days earlier, on Tuesday 6 October, Spies said Southern Cape police confiscated 2,57kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of R25 000, also from a bus on its way to Cape Town. "The drugs could not be linked to a passenger at the time of the discovery," he said.
Spies said Western Cape police management commended the members for their vigilance and commitment in rooting out the distribution of drugs to communities in this province.