Police from SA, Mozambique and Tanzania make R12m drug bust

Members from the Trilateral Planning Cell (TPC) arrested a 37-year-old suspect in Gauteng on Tuesday after drugs worth millions were found stashed in the vehicle he was travelling in.

DRUGS SEIZED IN GAUTENG

The TPC consists of organised crime police officers in Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa. It was established to put a halt to the influx of heroin in those countries.

“The TPC is represented by members of these trilateral states with a unified objective to disrupt organized crime networks operating on the maritime western coast of the Indian Ocean,” said South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.

On Tuesday, a TPC team watched the N12 in Springs, Gauteng after receiving intelligence that a suspect would be travelling from Mozambique in a Ford Ranger bakkie stashed with heroin and methamphetamine (Tik).

The team spotted the vehicle at approximately 14:30 and brought it to halt. Sniffer dogs found drugs – sealed in plastic containers – hidden in compartments in the vehicle.

The suspect was arrested on the spot and the drugs, which have an estimated value of R12 million, were seized along with the vehicle.

The 37-year-old will appear before the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 7 July on a charge of dealing in drugs.

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