R1.5 million bust leads spike in ’Plain drug arrests
A bust that netted R1.5 million in mandrax, cocaine and tik, along with four suspected dealers, at the Beacon Valley home of a suspected gang leader was part of a sharp increase in drug-related arrests in Mitchell’s Plain from Christmas to New Year’s Day, say police.
A firearm and ammunition were also seized during the Saturday December 28 bust at “an address of one of the alleged leading figures of the 28 Firm Boys gang,” said Mitchell’s Plain police chief Brigadier Brian Muller.
Two men and two women were arrested on charges of possession and dealing in drugs and possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition.
Mitchell’s Plain police also registered eight other cases of drug dealing from Christmas to New Year.
According to Brigadier Muller, their drug-related arrests from Wednesday December 25 to Wednesday January 1 had almost tripled from the same period last year.
Drug-related offences, common assault, malicious damage to property, general theft and muggings were among the top-five crimes committed in the precinct over this period.
Cases of drunk driving, possession of drugs and dangerous weapons and thefts of and out of vehicles had been recorded between Mnandi and Strandfontein beaches, where there had been a strong police presence, he noted.
Joint operations by various SAPS and City police units, neighbourhood watches and security firms were ongoing, he added.
Strandfontein police chief Captain Jolen Antonie said the provincial police’s festive season safety plan, which was launched in Rocklands in October last year, would run “deep into the new year”.
Captain Antonie said common assault and car theft, especially of older models such as the Toyota Tazz, had been “a concern” in his precinct during the festive season.
“Fraud is also a concern, especially cases related to Marketplace on Facebook,” Captain Antonie said, cautioning those shopping online not to deposit money into unknown bank accounts before receiving their goods.
“This will decrease the fraud situation we are facing at this stage,” he said.
House robberies and common assaults were the top crimes in the Lentegeur precinct, from Christmas to New Year, according to Constable Navon van Houten, a spokesperson for Lentegeur police.
Officers had made 239 arrests and confiscated four firearms during the festive period, said Constable Van Houten. That included the arrest, on Christmas Day, of a 32-year-old man in Eastridge in connection with the killing of 17-year-old boy on Monday December 23. Officers had also recovered the suspected murder weapon, a revolver, and five rounds of ammunition, and arrested a man on a charge of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, at a house in Lentegeur, on Thursday December 26, following a tip-off.
“The murder and possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition cases are still under investigation,” he said.
