R1.4m dagga bust
File picture: Two men were arrested when dagga worth R100 000 was found in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg. File picture: Two men were arrested when dagga worth R100 000 was found in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg.
Ten men have been arrested in a drug bust in the KwaShembe area in Clermont.
The police raided a storage shack on Wednesday morning and seized 34 bags of dagga, weighing about a ton and with an estimated street value of R1.4 million.
The drug bust was a collaborative effort by the Durban Organised Crime Unit and the Pinetown Tactical Response Team.
“It was a month-long intelligence operation,” said Colonel Gavin Jacobs, a member of the Durban Organised Crime Unit.
After holding observation posts for hours and studying the activities of people in the area, the police pounced on a shack which was being used as a storage facility for the dagga.
“The occupants of the storage facility attempted to flee when the police arrived, but we managed to catch all of them,” said Jacobs.
Upon investigating, the police discovered that the type of dagga found at the scene comes from Lesotho.
According to Jacobs, nine of the men arrested are also from Lesotho.
“This was the first of many future operations,” said Jacobs.
The 10 men, who are between the ages of 21 and 57, have been charged with dealing in dagga and they are expected to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court soon. - The Mercury