Ventersburg police confiscate dagga weighing 191kg worth R230 000, 5 suspects arrested in two busts on Sunday.
Police have intercepted more dagga in Ventersburg after continued stop and searches three times in two weeks by the same shift. The second and third dagga batches were intercepted on Monday, 27 and Tuesday, 28 October 2014.10.28
The members led by Sgt Moratei Korope continued their stop and searches at R70 road hiking spot when Const Maleke Moeti signalled an oncoming vehicle, a Ford Escort sedan yesterday. The motor vehicle stopped for a moment and when the members approached the driver decided to speed off the scene. A hot pursuit ensued as the motor vehicle took a direction of Virginia until Saaiplaas. When they arrived near Cool Cat Pub the three passengers jumped out of the motor vehicle and hid in one of the houses in that vicinity. The two suspects were found inside the house while the third one managed to vanish into thin air.
The motor vehicle was searched in Saaiplaas and three (3) bags of dagga was found at the back seat covered with a blanket. There were extra four bags at the boot. The motor vehicle and the dagga were taken to Ventersburg police and the two suspects, a 24 year old male and his 31 year old male counterpart who was a driver were arrested for possession of dagga. The dagga weighed 123, 46 kg to the estimated street value of about R140 000. The driver and his passenger are residents of Mahikeng, Verdwaal Village. They appeared at Ventersburg Magistrates’ Court today, 28 October 2014.
Subsequently, the members went on with their operation today, 28 October 2014 at about 07:00 am. This time they stopped a big truck. Const Klaas Mosi requested a drivers’ licence and searched the truck. He found three (3) bags of dagga inside the truck. The two males, a 43 year old driver and his 33 year old passengers were arrested for possession of dagga. The dagga weighing 67.46 kg with the estimated street value of about R90 000 was confiscated as well as the truck. The driver asked for forgiveness before they were arrested and told the members that he was from Durban and he picked up the hitch hiker with his goods at Harrismith as he is heading to Kuruman and the passenger is going to Boshoff.
The Station Commander of Ventersburg, Capt Mathapelo Ramatsa commended the members for the good work they are doing. “These members are sending a clear message to drug transporters that Ventersburg is not a thoroughfare for their trade. Since they have achieved these success in a short space of time, they will motivate other shifts to work harder to increase our performance as a station,” concluded Ramatsa.
By Warrant Officer M. Khosana