Drug bust raises many concerns about trafficking

Aborder post swoop results in the seizure of 200kg worth of heroin, valued at over R140-million.

The story has all the elements of a TV crime fiction drama: a truck with false panels, with the stash concealed inside; undercover crime intelligence units delving into the goings-on of underworld gangster drug lords; weeks - possibly months - of planning before the pounce and arrest.

But it is not fiction. This happened last week, right on our doorstep.

The truck would no doubt, have travelled down the N2 towards Durban, perhaps stopping over at various distribution points.

Who knows how many young addicts would have been directly impacted should the haul have reached its destination?

One can visualise ‘stoned’ users craving their next fix, resorting to crime or prostitution to afford the ‘answer’ to their addiction.

Much will be made of this particular success, and praise must rightly be bestowed upon the investigating and arresting members – who probably put their lives at risk in confiscating the profits of the drug lords.

But this was just a small dimple in the tip of the white powder iceberg.

SANCA and other agencies dealing with addiction will verify a significant year-on-year rise in the number of their clients – both users and their families.

They will also speak on the disconcerting trend of ever younger users and potential addicts.

When they ‘come clean’, addicts speak out on just how easy it is to buy drugs of all types on the streets of the city, or even at smaller places such as St Lucia and Mtunzini.

Drug lords operate in the city and the region with apparent freedom, and virtually every buyer will tell you that a fix is as easy to obtain as a loaf of bread.

There is no shortage of suppliers, operating from street corners to clubs.

Since the abandoning of the old South African Narcotics Bureau (SANAB) police unit, which specialised in addressing drug trafficking issues, dealers have acted with impunity, knowing that the lack of police manpower renders them virtually untouchable.

Of grave concern is the number of foreign nationals involved in the drug trade, and the fact that most of them are in South Africa as ‘asylum seekers’.

Loopholes that allow this manipulation of laws intended for those valid seeking a safe haven must be scrutinised to stop this blatant abuse of protection and hospitality.