Ballito was the location of yet another drug bust last Friday when a joint operation between Umhlali SAPS and KwaDukuza officers arrested a man in connection with dealing cocaine.
The 40-year-old Congolese national was caught allegedly selling one gram of cocaine for R250 to a woman in the car park outside the Ballito Bay Mall at around 2.30pm as shoppers picked up groceries and ran errands.
The man was arrested with R800 cash, which is believed to have been made through the illegal sale of cocaine.
Arresting officers suspect the individual of being part of a drug trafficking syndicate operating out of Durban and they hope the arrest will lead them to bigger dealers.
During a search of the alleged drug dealer’s residence in Etete, four grams of ‘cat’ (a form of methamphetamine) equating to a street value of about R800 was discovered.
He was remanded in custody on three counts of dealing and one count of methamphetamine possession, and if found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison.
The arresting officers at the scene said that the high profits to be made from drug dealing were attracting a large number of people, many of them foreign nationals from Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), into the drug underworld.
The money is significantly more attractive than the wages earned working as a car guard or a labourer, for example, and street dealers selling cocaine alone can earn an estimated R2000 to R3000 per day.
“This arrest is part of an ongoing operation in the area and we can expect more arrests as a result,” said Lt. Col. Dieter Fittkau of Umhlali SAPS, who is working with other police precincts as part of this investigation.
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