The khat's out of the bag after police bust

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

By Graeme Hosken

Members of the Tshwane Metro Police drug enforcement unit and SAPS intelligence agents seized khat with a street value of R30 000 on Monday, one of the largest amounts of the drug ever seized in South Africa.

Two men, believed to be from Somalia, were arrested.

The bust forms part of a larger Metro Police operation to break up the narcotics trade.

Mere hours before the bust, city law enforcement officers arrested an alleged drug dealer from Nigeria who was found in possession of Tik with an estimated street value of R6 000 during a raid in Highveld, Centurion.

In Monday's bust, police followed the two suspected drug smugglers' vehicle along the Ben Schoeman Highway and forced them off the road. They discovered 292 freshly cut khat plants hidden in the car.

The men are believed to be part of a syndicate that grows the plants on several farms north of Pretoria for distribution throughout South Africa.

Tshwane Metro Police drug enforcement unit commander Superintendent Mark Newham said the men had been charged with dealing in narcotics.

Commenting on the arrest of the 32-year-old Nigerian, Newham said the man, who will appear in court this week on charges of dealing in narcotics, was arrested following a tip-off from a member of the community.

This article was originally published on page 2 of The Pretoria News on January 23, 2008