Hawks find and dismantle dagga laboratory in Mbombela
The suspect's laboratory was seized and he was arrested and taken to court.
Julio Cohen (33) was arrested by the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit in Mbombela for running a drug laboratory on Wednesday May 18.
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The provincial Hawks spokesperson, Capt Dineo Sekgotodi, said they had received information from a reliable source about the house in Mbombela where drugs were manufactured. A search-and-seizure warrant was authorised by the court and a disruptive operation was conducted.
Sekgotodi said the suspect’s house was searched. The police found a room used as a laboratory to process dagga.
The following equipment was found and seized:
– a tent with lights
– a thermometer
– three electric fans
– electric extensions and other equipment used to process dagga.
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“In the yard, we found 20 dagga trees, seven bottles, one paint bucket, and one plastic container of dried dagga. One cooler box containing dagga oil was also seized. The dry dagga weighs 1.7kg and dagga oil 3.16kg,” she said.
Sekgotodi said that the suspect was arrested and taken to court.
“The suspect is disabled and using a wheelchair. He appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court and was released on R1 000 bail. The case was postponed to July 4 for further investigation,” she said.
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