A suspected drug trafficker is expected to appear in the Strand Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after he was nabbed transporting drugs worth around R2.7 million to Cape Town.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday, November 12.
The provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Zinzi Hani said a multidisciplinary operation was led by the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau team based in Bellville together with Western Cape Crime Intelligence’s Counter Narcotics and Gangs.
Hani said the 34-year-old man was arrested after the team received information of a suspect travelling from the Eastern Cape to Cape Town with a truck loaded with mandrax tablets.
“The Hawks’ team spotted the vehicle matching the description and it was stopped and searched,” Hani said.
“Upon conducting the search, 61,000 mandrax tablets were found hidden in a false compartment inside the truck,” Hani said.
The suspect was immediately arrested and the drugs were seized for further investigation.
The drugs are estimated to be worth R2.7 million.
“The suspect will appear in the Strand Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, November 14, facing a charge of dealing in drugs,” Hani said.
Last week, police in the Western Cape arrested two men on after the truck they were bust with a cargo of illicit goods from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
The truck was intercepted near the Joostenberg Weighbridge along the N1 highway in the direction of Cape Town.
The large consignment of illicit cigarettes with an estimated street value of R22 million destined for a warehouse in Montagu Gardens was seized and confiscated.
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