GALLERY: Linden SAPS wages war against drugs

Linden Police Station implemented three drug raids in Linden, Victory Park and Fontainebleau on 21 January. The raids happened on anonymous and community tip-offs. The units that were involved were the K9 Unit, Sector Policing, Crime Intelligence and High-Profile Investigators.

The first raid happened at Linden Square, corner 4th Avenue and 8th Street. The police were tipped off about a street vendor who the community suspected to be selling weed. The suspect is also a resident of Linden who sells chips, sweets and cigarettes and was searched along with his stall, his friends and the surroundings of his stall. “I was arrested for housebreaking before, but I am just trying to turn my life around and put bread on the table for my kids,” the suspect said. The Linden Police did not find any drugs in his possession or hidden anywhere close by.

The second raid was at a house on Tana Road – the police received a tip-off on suspected drug dealing and use. The three-bedroom house turned out to have nine residents who lived in it and one in the servant’s quarters. The house was searched from top to bottom and no drugs were found. The owner of the house did, however, turn out to have a record for possession of drugs and suspected stolen goods as well as shoplifting. Some of the residents also have records, one resident admitted to using drugs for 21 years. Some of the people who lived there had previously been arrested for the possession of a stolen trailer and a motorcycle and they are still in prison. A man was arrested for being an illegal immigrant and not having the correct documentation and he had been arrested in 2015 for drug possession.

The third raid was in Hester Road, Fontainebleau, on a suspected drug-dealing tip-off. The premises were searched with no drugs found. Police did, however, find that one of the residents had been arrested before and this was news to his emotional girlfriend of 10 years.

“We used an MCD (mobile connecting device) to scan finger prints on site – the device gives accurate information on criminal backgrounds and offences on the spot,” said Linden Police corporate communications officer Constable Carol Mulamu.