South African Police Seize R80 Million Worth Of Cocaine In Durban

The South African Police Service (SAPS) seized R80 million worth of cocaine at the Dube Trade Port after tracking several containers coming to Durban Harbour from Brazil.

SAPS disclosed on Sunday that the officers tracked a certain container to the Dube Trade Port, which had 228 blocks of cocaine concealed in meat boxes. It said that the incident took place Friday and that it was the "second drug bust" in the last two days.

"This is the second drug bust in the last two days, this after R70 million worth of cocaine was also seized from a container at the Durban Harbour," the department said, SA News reported.

The department noted that the investigations are going on to learn about the final destination of these drugs.

General Fannie Masemola, the National Commissioner of the SAPS, praised the department officers who caught the drug trafficking.

"The SAPS is hard at work in disrupting and dismantling transnational organized crime that poses a significant threat to the communities that we serve," Masemola said, adding, "We continue to intensify and strengthen the detection of drug trafficking and associated organized crime."

He continued, "We are intensifying our safer festive operations and there are more takedowns to come from the SAPS, we are warning those who are involved in such activities to either surrender or we will continue to sniff them out."

The department shared that it will continue to enhance its cooperation with other law enforcement agencies across the globe to ensure that such organized crime activities are completely shut down.

Further investigation into this case will be conducted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as Hawks.

Hawks was formed in 2008 and deals with various crimes including economic crime, corruption, organized crime, and more.

Drug trafficking is not new in South Africa. Earlier this year, the South African police caught a ship in Durban with 378 kilograms of cocaine worth R1.3 billion.

"By working together, the government has shown once again that it is determined to fight the scourge of narcotics entering the country and destroying the lives of its users, especially the youth," Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said in February, as per the official statement.

According to a new United Nations report, smugglers have increased the use of maritime routes to supply drugs via South Africa since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Executive Director Ghada Waly of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the "surge in the global cocaine supply should put all of us on high alert."

The "potential for the cocaine market to expand in Africa and Asia is a dangerous reality," Waly added.