More than half a million rand’s-worth of heroin was seized by City of Cape Town Metro Police earlier this week – and seizures of such drugs are becoming increasingly common.
According to Metro Police spokesperson Ruth Solomons, officers received a tipoff about drugs being kept at the N2 Gateway housing development near Delft on Wednesday evening. When authorities arrived at the scene, they found three men packaging the massive quantity of heroin.
“Officers seized 16 packets of uncut heroin with an estimated street value of R700 000 and just over R2 500 in cash,” Solomons said.
The suspects, aged 27, 36 and 39 years old respectively, were arrested on drug dealing charges, and are currently being detained in Delft until they are due to appear in court.
On Thursday morning in a separate incident, Law Enforcement Volunteers confiscated what is believed to be crystal meth – or what is commonly known as “tik” – from a group of five males who were seen roaming suspiciously around the Bo-Kaap.
More than 2 000 mandrax tablets were seized by authorities on the evening of the same day, after a vehicle was stopped and searched just outside of Epping, an industrial area just beyond Cape Town.
“The members spotted the vehicle in Epping Avenue and stopped it. Upon searching the vehicle, a total of 1 851 mandrax tablets worth an estimated R100 000 were seized,” South African Police Services (SAPS) spokesperson, Noloyiso Rwexana, said.
Earlier this month, a drug dealer was apprehended for delivering Ritalin to a school pupil in one of Cape Town’s southern suburbs. Many school and university students take this schedule-six medication because they say it helps them to focus, particularly during exam time.
Ritalin is typically prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but its recreational use, and even abuse has picked up over the past several years.
Picture: Pixabay