Cross-cluster operations yield SAPS success
ATTEMPTS by the South African Police Service to successfully monitor and police the main entrance and exit routes between clusters in an attempt to eradicate the flow of illegal goods like drugs from one region to another, was successful again last Thursday when they confiscated 33 bags of dagga weighing just over one tonne, with an estimated street value in excess of R1-million.
An interlinked truck en route to George was stopped at a roadblock in Wilderness just after 1am on October 25. A search ensued and members attached to the George Cluster Toxic Team found 33 bags of dagga concealed in the first compartment of the truck.
Police immediately arrested the 37-year-old driver of the truck, from Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape, and confiscated the truck as well as its assets as evidence.
Just a few minutes before this incident, another arrest was made in George after a Tata Indica, believed to be an escort vehicle, was pulled over based on information received from the public. The driver, 34, was arrested and due to appear along with the truck driver in George Magistrate Court for the illegal possession of drugs.
“We have also made other significant arrests during this cross-cluster operation between the Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn, George and Da Gamaskop in Mossel Bay clusters,” says captain Malcolm Pojie of the Southern Cape SAPS Media Centre.
In Beaufort West a man was arrested for the possession of one bundle of Khat, and another man was arrested at the Wilderness roadblock for being in possession of an unlicensed .38 Rossi firearm and six rounds of ammunition.
Provincial commissioner of the Western Cape, lieutenant general Arno Lamoer applauded the SAPS members for bringing the suspects to book.
Says Pojie: “Our mission with these integrated operations remains to effectively address and prevent priority crimes to ensure the safety of both our rural and urban communities. This will be done by means of high-visibility patrols, roadblocks and deployments, especially on our main and secondary roads which include entrance and exit routes between clusters.”