The South African police on Tuesday announced seizing a shipment of cocaine worth $38.9 million on a fishing vessel in the Western Cape cape province, as well as arresting ten suspects
JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) The South African police on Tuesday announced seizing a shipment of cocaine worth $38.9 million on a fishing vessel in the Western Cape cape province, as well as arresting ten suspects.
According to the police the raid took place late on Monday on the province's Saldana coast.
"Detectives from the Organized Crime Narcotics Unit led a multidisciplinary team, comprising various tactical units, on an intelligence-driven operation to a fishing vessel where they found 973 blocks of compressed cocaine. The drugs, estimated to be worth R583 million [$38.9 million], were found hidden in three compartments of the vessel," the office of the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service said in a statement, adding that the team detained four suspects from Bulgaria and six from Myanmar.
General Khehla Sitole, the national police commissioner, lauded the team's effort and urged them to build a strong case so that those responsible get harsh sentences.
"South Africa should not be used as a transit point or destination for the illicit drug trade. We have a responsibility of removing drugs from our streets. This is a welcome disruption and huge blow to drug organized crime," Sitole said.
According to the 2020 drug report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2018, about 290.7 Pounds of cocaine was seized in South Africa.
