MBOMBELA – He is a member of the SAPS and has a nose for drugs. He works with a human dog handler. Swift reaction by a policeman and his best friend lead to a massive drug bust this weekend when two men were arrested in separate incidents with drugs to the street value of more than R25 million.
Milo, a Labrador, is being used with great success to fight the war against drugs.
His handler, with whom he has a very close bond, may not be identified as he works undercover.
According to Lt Col Paul Bester, commander of the unit, the first arrest was made on Thursday night when a man in his thirties was found with 21 kilograms of a substance suspected to be heroin in his possession, on the N4 between Komatipoort and Mbombela.
Bester said members of the unit were patrolling the area for stolen vehicles when the discovery was made.
“Members of SAPS were busy checking the vehicle’s registration when Milo pointed out the drugs,” he said. According to Bester the drugs were hidden behind a panel close to the petrol tank of the vehicle. A total of
20 bags of the substance were confiscated on the scene.
Bester said the suspect at first denied knowledge about the hidden cargo, but later admitted that he picked up the drugs in Mozambique.
According to Bester the suspect was on his way to Gauteng.
During a second incident, a 34-year-man was apprehended behind Debonairs at Crossing Centre.
A member of the public became suspicious of his behaviour.
According to Mr Jacques Meiring, operational manager of Bossie’s Community Justice (BCJ), an eyewitness contacted him just before 14:00 on Friday.
“He said he had seen a man sitting in his vehicle was busy packaging a white powder into small parcels,” Meiring said.
BCJ immediately contacted the K9 unit at White River and the man was arrested.
According to Bester seven grams of heroin with a street value of R1 250 was seized.
Both suspects appeared in court yesterday. The outcome of the court cases was not available at the time of going to print.
According to Bester the drugs have been sent to the forensic laboratory in Pretoria for further testing.
According to Crime Statistics SA, Mbombela is the area with the highest number of drug-related crimes in Mpumalanga. In 2014 a total of 336 cases were reported in the city alone.
During the month of March a total of 873 suspects were successfully apprehended in Mpumalanga by the SAPS for the possession of drugs, including crack cocaine, heroin, Mandrax and CAT.
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