Police on Garden Route make strides in fight against drugs

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Yolande Stander

Garden Route police are taking massive strides in eradicating the drug trade in the area after several major drug busts over the past few months.

During one of the biggest recent successes police confiscated about 700kg of dagga with a street value of about R1-million near Sedgefield.

"This is definitely a trend and can be attributed to the Garden Route's position as it is one of the main routes between two major cities [Cape Town and Port Elizabeth]," Southern Cape police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said.

This he said was one of the main reasons police decided to focus on special operations in the area. "We are focusing on the major entry and exit routes to the province."

This strategy appears to be bearing fruit with a series of recent drug-related arrests.
On March 12 police pulled a suspicious Volkswagen Kombi over on the N2 between Knysna en Sedgefield and after searching the vehicle found 40 bags of dagga.
The drugs were confiscated and two men arrested.

Just three days earlier police confiscated 375kg of dagga worth more than R500 000 and arrested four alleged drug dealers - Mtobeli Ngozi (28), Sonwabile Bhengeza (38), Phumzile Ngozi (28) and Mandla Mokele (38).
This week Plettenberg Bay police confiscated dagga worth about R130 000 when they searched a vehicle on the N2 just outside the holiday town.

Police also confiscated various drugs including dagga, Tik and Mandrax in Kranshoek early in February.
In November police took R150 000's worth of dagga out of circulation when they raided a house in Knysna. During the same week various other arrests were made and Tik Mandrax and dagga were confiscated.

"This is one of the reasons a provincial strategy is in place to curb the drug trade by monitoring major routes going in and out of the Western Cape. Police are especially vigilant on these routes."
Pojie added that the most prevalent drugs being transported and distributed along the Garden Route was dagga, Mandrax and Tik.

Drug and organised crime expert Rodney Visser said Durban was the main entry point for drugs like Mandrax from India and China. "These drugs are then transported from Durban through to East London, Port Elizabeth, the Garden Route to George and then ultimately Cape Town," Visser said.

Visser, who has 25 years experience as a member of the drug and organised crime unit and is currently a consultant on organised crime, said the Western Cape was the "biggest user of Mandrax" and therefore large quantities were transported to the province.

"A lot of dagga is also cultivated in the former Transkei and just like Mandrax is transported from there to East London, Port Elizabeth, the Garden Route and Cape Town.

Pojie said the arrests of drug dealers during special operations often led to bigger busts including drug laboratories.

"We also do weekly raids at homes and shebeens and act on information from the community. We also do cross border operation and continue to monitor the situation," Pojie said.