Hawks arrest two over dagga plantation in the Eastern Cape
Cape Town - Two suspects are expected to appear in court soon on charges of operating a dagga plantation and numerous counts of dealing in drugs in the Eastern Cape.
According to the provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Captain Yolisa Mgolodela, the suspects were arrested during an intelligence driven operation on Monday.
She said this came after officers responded to a call about a farm that was operating as a dagga plantation.
Mgolodela said a number of purchases were successfully conducted by officers and surveillance was conducted at the farm.
“On Monday ... the team proceeded to the farm in Lady Grey where they met a 35-year-old man who is alleged to be the consultant of the dagga farm owner who was absent at the time. The main purpose of the farm is to plant, cultivate, dry and sell dagga,” she said.
“Plants and dry dagga to the street value of R600 000 were confiscated. A R4 million worth of structure that is reported to be used in the processing of the plants was also identified.
“The investigation led the team to Aliwal North where a 65-year-old man was arrested for numerous charges of dealing in dagga,” Mgolodela added.
The officers involved were from the East London-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) team of the Hawks, Crime Intelligence, K9 unit and the Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) in Aliwal North and Lady Grey.
The suspects arrested are aged 35 and 65 years old and are expected to appear in the Lady Grey and Aliwal North magistrate’s court soon.
The Hawks said more arrests were imminent as the investigation continued.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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