MAJOR drug busts have been underway by the Empangeni K9 Specialised Unit when the team cracked down on dealers and peddlers, from Thursday to Saturday last week, following police intelligence.
Their first break was made on Thursday following a tip off of a suspicious looking blue Hyundai Atos which had been parked next to Mitchell Heights in Empangeni.
Upon arrival at the scene, the police found a 26-year-old foreigner in the vehicle in possession of an assortment of drugs including mandrax and cocaine, with a street value of R40 000. The man was arrested and detained at the Empangeni SAPS.
Later the same day, while patrolling along Maxwell Street, the officers noticed a suspicious young male and asked to search him. He was found in the possession of drugs valued at R500 and was subsequently arrested and kept in custody at Empangeni SAPS.
On a drug bust ‘high’ the specialised unit then took on Richards Bay on Saturday morning following leads from informers that there had been suspicious activity at a house in Birdswood.
Arriving at the scene, the police searched the home of a 27-year-old man who was found in possession of ‘rock’ to the street value of R2 700 and was consequently arrested and appeared at the Richards Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
But the major break was later that afternoon when members of the K9 Unit swooped in at Alpha Café Salon in Richards Bay near OK Centre where they conducted a search and found a 26-year-old woman in the possession of ‘rock’ to the street value of R3 400, ‘nqo’ amounting to R7 000, mandrax worth R4 800 and ‘mercedes’ of up to R3 900.
She was arrested and appeared in the Richards Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
‘We are immensely proud of our K9 Unit and police intelligence officials and we are sending out a message loud and clear to all dealers, mules and addicts that we will continue to arrest those in possession of illegal substances,’ said Empangeni SAPS Spokesperson Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose.
‘Especially in Richards Bay, we have received more leads of which we are following and our officers are tracking these criminals down,’ he added.
