SA COPS BUST LISWATI WITH E53 298 DAGGA IN CAR’S FALSE COMPARTMENT

MBABANE – Dagga weighing 12.69 kilogrammes, with an estimated street value of about E53 298, was discovered in a false compartment, underneath the rear end of a Toyota Avanza.

The discovery of the dagga was made by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Saturday morning at Mahamba Port of Entry, on the South African side. According to a SAPS statement issued yesterday, the police, who were at the port of entry, searched a vehicle at the arrivals at about 10:30am. It was reported that the police were suspicious of the vehicle because it looked like it had been tampered with.

Searched

They then searched it and discovered a false compartment underneath the rear end of the vehicle, and that was where they found six rolls of loose dagga. The stuffed dagga was contained in plastic bags covered with brown masking tape. A 29-year-old suspect from Eswatini was arrested and charged with possession of dagga. The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, sent a strong warning to drug traffickers that they could not outclass police with their tricks. “We are continuing to make sure that the province is drug-free,” said the general.  The arrested liSwati adds to the 15 emaSwati who were arrested for dagga possession in South Africa (SA) in the past six months. Last week, this publication reported that over E4 million worth of dagga had been smuggled into SA over the aforementioned period (six months). Between March and April this year, there were over eight emaSwati who were arrested in the various ports of entry. In two instances, dagga worth over E1 million was confiscated.  

Increasing

The crime statistics for dagga are significantly increasing, something which has been cited as a stumbling block by the Cannabis Association of Swaziland. Chairman of the Cannabis Association, Saladin Magagula, said the buck stopped with the Ministry of Health, which was delaying the Act to legalise cannabis. Magagula stated that they recently made their presentation before the Health Portfolio Committee last session, but to date, there was nothing new that they were contributing towards the Act. “Our report passed in Parliament and the next step has to be the implementation,” he said.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: