Alleged drug dealer nabbed near SAPS Training College | Rising ...
Residents in Moorton have accused police officers of being ‘lazy’ and ‘uninterested’ in combating crime, despite a recent drug bust by the Metro Police drug team that led to the arrest of an alleged drug dealer operating behind the SAPS Training College.
The community’s frustration has reached a boiling point as they demand more action from law enforcement to address various crime issues plaguing the close-knit community.
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Durban Metro Police spokesperson, Col Boysie Zungu, explained that the team received information from Crime Intelligence regarding a man, who was dealing in drugs behind the SAPS Training College, inside an informal settlement.
The suspect was placed under arrest for being in possession of drugs and an illegal firearm.“Members of the Metro Police drug team together with SAPS eThekwini District EITT and other role players, including PT Alarms Durban ambassador, Fenton Govender, strategically observed the target formulating a plan to intercept the target. Further information was received that the target had just received a large amount of drugs during the evening,” said Col Zungu. Due to the business of the settlement, police were forced to carry out their plan of action during the early parts of the morning to move in unnoticed. “During the early parts of the morning, police officers and role players moved towards the target’s house where he was apprehended by surprise and caught with an unlicensed firearm in his possession as well as drugs. The exhibits included one black CZ 83 firearm, 25 rounds of live ammunition, as well as 600 green and white capsules of heroin, which were seized and booked into Chatsworth SAPS. The suspect was detained, free of all visible injuries at the Chatsworth station. No casualties were reported,” Col Zungu added.
Col Zungu concluded by applauding the work of the Metro drug team and thanking all role players for assisting in the fight against crime. Despite this success, a pioneer resident, Ricky Naicker, said that he could not believe such crimes were committed in such close proximity to his home.
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“One would like to think that the presence of a SAPS Training College and so many police officers in and around the area would mean that criminality is at an all-time low, but this could not be further from the truth. This roadway is notorious for hijackings, and shootings, and now we are learning that people are dealing and transporting drugs in large quantities, in the backyard of the police. Institutions like this are national key points and have resources.
The informal settlement which is adjacent to the SAPS Training College.“We do not even know if the man, who was arrested, forms part of a cartel nor do we know if he will simply be replaced by another. While training future officers of the law, why can more experienced officers lead teams into settlements like Lusaka, gather information and act on it? Even if this is unrealistic, we need the police to do something. We live in fear for the lives of our families and more especially, our children. There is a primary school just up the road from where this bust occurred and if children are exposed to these unsavoury acts so early on while heading home, then the future generation is already lost,” said Naicker.
