LISWATI (49) BUSTED WITH E75M HEROIN IN SA

MBABANE – Yet another liSwati truck driver has been arrested in South Africa by the Hawks after being nabbed transporting heroin worth E75 million.

The 49-year-old liSwati driver was caught while driving a truck in South Africa by the Hawks, a directorate for priority crime investigation (DPCI) that targets organised crime, economic crime, corruption and other serious crimes referred to it by the president or another division of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Heroin, also known as diamorphine, is a morphinan opioid substance, derived from the dried latex of the papayer somniferum plant and is mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. It is currently illegal in most parts of the world.

Operation

According to SAPS’s Colonel Katlego Mohale, in a statement shared on the organisation’s website, this was part of the multi-disciplinary operation that was conducted in Mpumalanga on Sunday (July 16, 2023). It was reported that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations South African Narcotic Bureau received information from Witrivier K9 on a truck that could possibly be ferrying illegal drugs. In the statement, he is quoted as having said; “The Hawks in Secunda and South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau, with the assistance of Elukwatini Local Criminal Record Centre, Elukwatini Fire Department and SAPS Badplaas, pulled the identified truck over and it was escorted back to the station.” It is said the fire department assisted with the opening of the concealed compartment, where 250 x 1kg heroin bricks, with an estimated street value of E75 million, were discovered. The drug bust was as a result of Trilateral Planning Cell (TPC), which is a team established by the ministries responsible for policing of the Republics of South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania, to counter heroin trafficking through the Southern Route,” said the DPCI Head, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya.

It was gathered that the drugs, which were destined for the international market, were coming from Mozambique. The 49-year-old liSwati is set to appear in the Carolina Magistrates Court tomorrow to face charges relating to the possession of illegal drugs with intent to distribute. The SAPS further said an investigation was also underway to determine how the truck managed to enter South Africa without being thoroughly checked at the border.  The bust was also confirmed in a follow up call made to SAPS’s Brigadier, Thandi Mbambo, who said an arrest was made by the police on Sunday, where a liSwati national was arrested for the same offence. She, however, refused to comment any further as she referred this reporter to the SAPS statement.

When asked about the rising number of emaSwati arrested for drug-related offences locally and outside the kingdom’s borders, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said there was an increase and added: “It is not only drug-related offences but crime in general has increased. This may be catalysed by an increase in the country’s population and other contributing factors.” According to the Royal Eswatini Police Service Second Quarter Report, raids and swoops yielded positive results as fugitives of the law were arrested. The crimes unravelled as an outcome of raids and swoops between July and September 2022, revealed that there were a total of 372 arrests. The arrests included for crimes like contravening the Arms and Ammunition Act, which stood at 22, immigration offences at 113 and the highest which involved drugs at 237.

The report further stated that a total of 81 suspects were arrested for various offences, including the contravention of the Immigration Act and possession of illegal firearms. In a similar incident two months ago, Ledion Bongumusa Masangane (48), who is a truck driver, was arrested while trying to smuggle 205 kilogrammes of heroin to Botswana and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. According to Duma FM, Masangane is said to have committed the offence on April 25, 2022, at or near Ka-Zungula One Border crossing, being a person not authorised to transport narcotic drugs, unlawfully imported heroin to Botswana while driving an Isuzu truck.

In May this year, dagga weighing 12.69 kilogrammes, with an estimated street value of about E53 298, was discovered in a false compartment, underneath the rear end of a Toyota Avanza. The discovery of the dagga was made by the SAPS at the Mahamba port of entry on the South African side. A 29-year-old suspect, who is also a liSwati was arrested and charged with possession of dagga. In April last year, a 48-year-old liSwati, was arrested by Botswana Police Service (BPS) for the possession of crystal meth and heroin. The liSwati was in possession of 22kg of methamphetamine and 176kg of heroin and was travelling from Zambia to South Africa, via Botswana.

Market

According to a review piece by Bruce Johnson, published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in South Africa, the republic is by far the largest market for illicit drugs entering the Southern African region. It reads that little is known about how the retail markets function and are priced for cannabis, heroin, cocaine powder, methamphetamine and Mandrax (methaquolone), further noting that drug trafficking and abuse have escalated since the end of apartheid (1992). “The extreme income inequalities between the different broad ethnic segments affect drug affordability and thus consumer choice. South Africa is one of the world’s largest producers of cannabis and the largest international consumer of mandrax. Heroin, cocaine powder, crack, and methamphetamine (called tik) is less common, but growing. The apartheid legacy resulted in the illicit drug market being highly segmented along racial and cultural lines. The distribution mechanisms include street, quasi-public, residential, and delivery,” reads the report in part.

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