Bad start to dagga 'season'

2008-03-11 18:52

Durban - Seventeen bags of dagga - with a street value of about R653 000 - were seized on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast on Monday night, said police.

And, five days earlier, police seized dagga with a street value of R950 000 on the same coastline.

Superintendent Zandra Hechter said on Tuesday: "It needs to be pointed out that it is harvesting time for dagga from February to April and I think the officers did a great job in nabbing these guys."

Hechter said Port Shepstone police were patrolling near Umtentweni on Monday night when they spotted two cars moving at high speed towards Durban.

Police gave chase and the suspects increased their speed.

Hechter said one of the vehicles even tried to ram into a police car.

One of the vehicles, a Golf, came to a stop at the Umtwalume turn-off when police blockaded them.

Dagga from Lesotho - cops

In the car, police found four occupants and one bag of dagga.

The second car, a Nissan LDV, was pulled over near an Ultracity garage.

"Two occupants were found in the vehicle and 16 bags of dagga," said Hechter. "This dagga was coming from Lesotho and was destined for Inanda," she said.

All six were arrested and were due to appear in court shortly.

On Thursday night, Umkomaas police on the South Coast arrested five women and a man who were in possession of 95.6kg of dagga.

- SAPA