Two suspects arrested after R4m drug lab bust

The commander of Johannesburg Flying Squad, Colonel W Van Wyk, said mandrax powder and tablets were found on the property on Monday, Comaro Chronicle reported.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said: “Flying Squad and Crime Intelligence were following up on information about a drug lab in the area. Chemicals, scales and a press were confiscated. The suspects are expected to appear in court soon on charges of manufacturing drugs.”

Last month, three suspects were arrested after police discovered a drug lab inside an abandoned church in Nigel, on Gauteng’s East Rand.

Police stumbled across the laboratory after a fire erupted at the old Grace Church. After the fire was extinguished, a strong chemical odour prompted further investigation into the premises, where several drums, bags and buckets full of chemicals and acids were found.

Three suspects who were in the building when police arrived and assisted in extinguishing the fire were arrested on the scene and charged with the manufacture and dealing of drugs.

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said the estimated value of the drugs was about R30m. She added the fire was presumably caused by an electrical fault, which spread to containers filled with chemicals outside the building.

Elsewhere in the old church, hundreds of bags containing the processed product were also found stored and ready to be distributed.

– Caxton News Serice