Hawks Arrest 3 Men in Cape Town for Possession of Cocaine Worth R400m, Bheki Cele Expected to Attend Hearing

Hawks Arrest 3 Men in Cape Town for Possession of Cocaine Worth R400m, Bheki Cele Expected to Attend Hearing

  • Three men have been arrested in Cape Town for the possession of cocaine to the tune of R400 million
  • The Hawks confiscated the contraband, which was stashed inside a wooden compartment in a truck that was travelling on the N1 highway
  • The trio will face charges in the Athlone Magistrate's Court on Monday, where Bheki Cele is expected to be in attendance

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Hawks drug bust
Three men were arrested during a successful stop-and-search by the Hawks, who uncovered the large consignment of cocaine valued at over R400 million. Image: @SAPoliceService/Twitter
Source: Twitter

CAPE TOWN - In a joint operation, the Hawks, together with Crime Intelligence and Western Cape traffic officials, arrested three men for the possession of cocaine valued at over R400 million.

The massive bust occurred on Friday, 5 August, after the Hawks received a tip-off about a truck transporting a large consignment of drugs. The truck was stopped on Jan smuts Avenue between Pinelands and Athlone in Cape Town, EWN reported.

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A spokesperson for the Hawks, Zinzi Hani, said:

“The vehicle was intercepted and a search was conducted wherein a large quantity of drugs was found hidden in false wooden boards at the back of the truck.”

According to News24, The bust is one of the largest in South Africa in the past year.

The trio is expected to face the court on Monday in proceedings that Police Minister Beki Cele is expected to attend.

South Africans have responded with a mixture of pride for a job well done and scepticism over whether the drugs will stay in police custody.

Here are some comments:

@NGOBESESIZWE1 commented:

"Keep it up, that's good to hear people doing their work accordingly, especially the government workers."

@ndiligeza said:

"As we wait for it to disappear..."

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@MegaFunTweets stated:

"They are even branded. That’s definitely a big operation. So now one has to start looking at how they slipped through the entry port without detection. My thinking is someone didn’t get their cut and they snitched. Or they sacrificed this shipment so the larger one can go."

R1.14m massive drug busts made, R500k dagga in Durban, R640k mandrax in Bloemfontein

In similar news, Briefly News reported that the South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal have seized R500 000 worth of dagga in Phoenix, Durban.

Two females aged 24 and 47 were arrested after being found in possession of a large amount of marijuana. A 35-year-old male suspect was also taken into custody.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Lerato Mutsila avatar

Lerato Mutsila (Current affairs editor) Lerato Mutsila is a journalist with 3 years of experience. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Pearson Institute of Higher Education in 2020, majoring in broadcast journalism, political science and communication. Lerato joined the Briefly News current affairs desk in August 2022. Mutsila is also a fellow of the 2021/2022 Young African Journalists Acceleration programme, which trained African journalists in climate journalism. You can contact Lerato at lerato.mutsila@breifly.co.za