South African Police have arrested 13 men using 30 donkeys to smuggle 66 bags of dagga through the mountains from Lesotho into South Africa... What sounds more like the opening lines of a joke was actually a huge joint operation with both the mounted units of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the SAP with the arrest being made in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.
This was one of the biggest dagga busts to go down in KwaZulu-Natal with the estimated street value of around R3.6 million - A 9mm handgun and eight rounds of ammunition were also seized.
Colonel Jay Naicker, the police spokesman, said: “There is quite a problem in that area regarding dagga and guns as our members often get shot at by men with AKs...” he went on to say that they had “arrested one man with an unlicensed firearm while another got away. The guy we arrested had a bulletproof vest on. That shows he was prepared...”
Aged between 25 and 33, the 13 men will appear in the Bergville Magistrate’s Court on Friday for possession of dagga, intent to sell drugs and illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
Some of the 66 bags had been slung over the donkeys and the rest were carried by some of the men. The police have confirmed that the donkey's were in a rather poor state of health but said that they were all being examined by a vet. Sadly not all of the donkey's make it over to the South African side as many fall off cliffs or get left behind by their handlers if they are deemed to be sick or struggling.
Once the smugglers have arrived in SA, the dagga is offloaded and the donkeys are left behind. It is not unusual that some of them (the donkey's) make their way back to Lesotho on their own.
The provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni congratulated the unit on another successful operation in the area and she said that they were "concerned that such a large consignment of drugs was being brought into the province... We will be working closely with prosecutors to ensure that we deal decisively with these criminals. Their actions are contributing to the crimes in KZN. We will continue to monitor activities on this known drug route."
Last month saw a couple attempting to smuggle the biggest drug consignment into the country but were arrested in Copesville, Pietermaritzburg - they used donkeys and horses to transport compressed balls of dagga over the border.
This is very funny, its been coming over the boarder for year just like this and everyone knows including the police. I wonder who this poor guy did not pay or who he pissed off. Leave the poor guys alone, fight real drugs, glue and Meth, stuff that makes you stupid and kill people. Police get Zero points in my book for this action. Million and millions in missing funds, kick backs and they go for the poorest dagga dealers ... :(
ReplyDeleteI think they go for busts that look huge then they can look like they doing good police work. The guys are escorting donkeys and they have one gun, it's not like they took down a drug lord. It's great work but in the scheme of things, for SA, there are more important things they need to be sorting.
ReplyDeleteWeed is a drug!? Really now, stop stealing from people rely on the plant for food and school fees money and go after real drug dealers.
ReplyDeleteWeed a drug my voet.
Have they ever heard of a smoker going home and beating his wife and kids after smoking Skunk #1?
legalize and leave these poor farmers alone who is struggling to make a living
ReplyDeleteLEGALIZE!!! the rest of the world is starting to wake up and realize the benefits of this very useful plant, let these guys make a living! regulate it.. and perhaps these animals will have access to better nutrition and care... we can have donkey check stations or something. Let the people smoke and grow... IF NATURE IS ILLEGAL THEN WE ARE NOT FREE.
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