Hawks shut down drug labs and arrest a speeding meth dealer in Sandton

Sandton

When members of the Hawks pulled over what just seemed like a man on his way home from work on the corner of Rivonia Road and Kelvin Drive in Sandton, they did not expect to find R700 000 of crystal meth in his workbag on Thursday afternoon (10 November).

The 38-year-old Tanzanian national – known as Roderick Benedict Assey – had been speeding in his white Hyundai Sedan, when he came across the radar of police officers who were actually stationed out there on a different observation assignment.

Alerted to the suspicious behaviour, the Hawks officers flagged him down. The vehicle was thereafter searched. It was under the front seat of the vehicle that police found two lunchboxes in Assey’s workbag backpack. Police said that both containers were wrapped with tape.

They retrieved the lunchboxes and broke open the tape, which revealed a powder-like substance that was eventually found to be crystal meth.

Assey – who lived in a complex on Delaray Street – was immediately arrested and charged with drug dealing. Assey appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 11 November 2022.

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Primrose

Meanwhile, the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Bureau with the aid of the SAPS’s K9 Unit that same day shut down a crystal meth manufacturing lab in Primrose at a house on Fir Street.

According to police reports, information was received where police were informed of the clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory.

Police and Hawks officers arrived on the manufacturer’s doorstep with a search warrant. After searching the house, they uncovered R2 million of Crystal Meth. They also stumbled upon equipment used in manufacturing the drugs.  

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Police managed to arrest 36-year-old Innocent Izuchukwu Orazulume. He has since appeared in the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 11 November 2022.

His case was postponed to Tuesday, 15 November 2022, to establish his legality in the country, movement control data and bail application.

Midrand

Similar to the aforementioned Hawks operations, police also managed to clamp down on a dealer at the Richwood Cluster Complex in Vorna Valley, Midrand.

They had received the address from their informants and had been surveying the area for quite some time.

However, upon arriving on the doorstep of the suspect, police only met with a childminder and two children. The minder informed them that her employers were not at home at the time.

She said the children’s mother – a South African –  was at work, while the father – a Nigerian national – was believed to be away in either Swaziland or Durban.

Police then called the children’s mother on her cell phone to come home and observe while they searched the house. She promised to arrive shortly. An hour later, she had not shown up and her phone went off.

The search was still carried out. Police found equipment for manufacturing drugs in an outside room of the house. Narcotics to the value of just over a million rand were also found.

Police officer, Captain  Lloyd Ramovha, explained that police gathered the evidence and left the children back in the care with the minor.  He said that the inquiry will be turned into a case docket and thereafter referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision.

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Compiled by by Devina Haripersad