R20-million heroin bust in Scottburgh
Police estimated the drugs to have a street value of about R20-million.
TWENTY-eight kilograms of heroin, worth millions of rand, were seized by police, and two men arrested in a stop-and-search on the South Coast this week.
The Daily News reported that Metro police made the bust on Monday night after noticing a white Corsa bakkie leaving the Shell Ultra City near Umkomaas on the N2, heading south.
The driver had been driving erratically, said a metro police dog unit officer.
Police followed him from a distance while checking the vehicle’s registration plate with their control room.
Police did not reveal who the bakkie belonged to, but said it had been reported stolen.
A source said police stopped the bakkie near Scottburgh and found its number plate and licence disc did not match the vehicle.
To their surprise, when they searched the vehicle they found the heroin sealed in 28 plastic bags, each weighing about a kilogram, concealed in three luggage bags.
Police estimated the drugs to have a street value of about R20-million.
Two men, aged 36 and 42, were charged with possession of heroin at Scottburgh SAPS.
The source said the two men had not resisted arrest and had not been armed.
It was not immediately established where the drugs were being taken.
“This was a huge breakthrough for us,” said one of the police officers involved in the bust.
“We don’t usually make busts as large as this one on routine stops.”
The policeman added initial investigations had revealed the men probably belonged to a syndicate operating in the Phoenix area.
“Heroin is essentially sugars and is being used by children. It’s highly addictive; all you have to do is try it once. At R20 a hit, it’s affordable, too.”
He said because of the large quantity of drugs involved, the arrested men were in the custody of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, or Hawks.
Hawks spokesman, Captain Paul Ramaloko, confirmed the arrest and sequence of events leading up to it.
“The two men will appear in court soon,” he said.
Source: Daily News – by Zainul Dawood and Kamcilla Pillay.
