R40 million worth of marijuana confiscated in Magaliesburg bust

Five foreign nationals are among seven people arrested in a large marijuana bust on Thursday, 18 July.

Police made the arrests on a small holding near Magaliesburg that was operating a hydroponic cannabis (marijuana) lab.  

R40 million worth of cannabis confiscated

Various police units confiscated R40 million worth of cannabis, cannabis products, chemicals and equipment at the small holding during a mid-morning raid.

The indoor marijuana farm was not their only crime, as they were also found with a signal-jamming device, live rounds of ammunition, a gas pistol and an air rifle.

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Police state that this was the third manufacturing operation discovered in the province in the past few weeks.

“We will continue to hit drug manufacturers and dealers and destroy their laboratories in order to disrupt their production. I am very happy with our efforts to deal with the scourge of drugs in the province,” said Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni

Among the foreigners were a Scotsman, a Russian, a Tanzanian and two Lesotho nationals who will all appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Cannabis not fully legal

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purpose Bill (CPP) legalising the possession and cultivation of marijuana for private use.

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The bill was first introduced in 2020 and contained a section regarding prescribed amounts that users would be able to carry in public and grow.

The section outlining the amounts was scrapped from the final bill, leaving users slightly in the dark about their rights.

However, commercial cultivation, distribution and use around non-consenting adults in private or public is still prohibited in the country.  

Researcher weighs in

Commenting on why the section for prescribed amounts was removed, cannabis researcher and community advocate Leela Baer offered an explanation.

“The prescribed amounts were removed due to there being no constitutional basis for limiting what personal use may look like,” Baer told The Citizen.

“The CPP (Cannabis for Private Purposes) Act outlines that cannabis refers only to the fruiting tops of the plant, making it easier for other uses of the plant to happen unimpeded by poor legislation,” she added.

Noting that the size of the Magaliesburg operation demonstrated the need to formalise trade regulations and questioned the police’s valuation of the amount confiscated in the raid.

On the CPP Act being subject to further legislative tweaks, Baer concluded: “Robust public participation is needed to ensure this happens equitably. Other bills to allow for the commercialisation and industrialisation of Cannabis are desperately needed.”