SEVEN WOMEN ARRESTED FOR DAGGA IN POLICE RAIDS

PIGG’S PEAK – With the prices of household items like cooking oil and bread skyrocketing since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, even women have now resorted to dagga dealing to make ends meet.

At least 10 people were arrested in various parts of the country for dagga possession. Of these, seven were women, including a 60-year-old woman.
A total of exactly 382.8498 kilogrammes of dagga was impounded by the police. The dagga can fetch as much as E1.9 million or even more on the streets.

Arrests

The arrests happened around Mafutseni, Mankayane and Pigg’s Peak area. According to a police report, most of the arrests were done around Pigg’s Peak. Noteworthy, dagga cultivation is mostly done around Pigg’s Peak Town with the proximity to the South African border making it easy for the dagga to be transported outside the country. Due to this, the Pigg’s Peak Magistrates courtrooms have the distinct dagga smell that is always present.
A man from Mbabane around a place known as Nhlalakahle was also nabbed with dagga.

It was also gathered that three women of Ngowane near Maguga were nabbed for dagga possession as well. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the arrests. She confirmed that the arrested people were expected to appear at respective court houses from today. Meanwhile, some of the women interviewed randomly said cultivating dagga was one of the most guarantee ways of generating income. “It is just like farming,” said a woman who aslo said times were becoming difficult as the prices of goods had hiked. She said due to difficult times, many women had no option, as jobs were difficult to come by.

“How do you expect us to take care of our families?” asked a woman who said she had several children and members of the extended family to look after. She also admitted that recently, she even tried to join the army but failed to make it to the top six, as she could not run fast enough.
Another said dagga cultivation was making it easy for them to pay school fees while at the same time supporting their families. “We are not stealing from anyone,” she said.

Increased

A community leader who asked not to be mentioned said since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, many household goods had increased in price, including fertiliser. He said items such as cooking oil were expensive and that families expected women to prepare meals. “When you are outside, they say men are bread-winners but inside the house, children look up to mothers for food,” he said. He said this was the reason why more women were now into dagga dealing and that some cultivated it in the fields while others even smuggled it out of the country. “It is only cultivated for outside markets so that we can be paid the right amount of money and then earn a living through that,” he said.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: