Cops turn up the heat
Cape Town - 111214 - A woman was found with 6 bags of Tik and R650 on a street corner near a house that was raided. It is believed that she is linked to the house where the warrant was being executed in Retreat. She was arrested and taken to Steenberg Police Station during a Drug Raid conducted by the Metro Police Dog Unit as part of their Festive Season readiness campaign. Three people were arrested for Tik. - Photo: Matthew Jordaan Cape Town - 111214 - A woman was found with 6 bags of Tik and R650 on a street corner near a house that was raided. It is believed that she is linked to the house where the warrant was being executed in Retreat. She was arrested and taken to Steenberg Police Station during a Drug Raid conducted by the Metro Police Dog Unit as part of their Festive Season readiness campaign. Three people were arrested for Tik. - Photo: Matthew Jordaan
In the three months to June 30, the Cape Town metro police arrested 428 people on drug-related charges and nabbed 22 more this week alone.
Over the weekend, six people were arrested by officers on foot patrol in Atlantis, and nine people were arrested in Philippi East after tik and mandrax were found in their possession.
Officers raided 13 alleged drug dens in Ocean View, Muizenberg and Steenberg, arresting four people and finding dagga and mandrax.
Last week, officers who raided a deserted building in Somerset West arrested three people for dagga possession.
The most frequently confiscated drugs were tik, dagga, heroin and unga (a heroin-based drug).
The mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the problem was spread across the city, with the hot spots being central Cape Town, Woodstock, Elsies River, Bonteheuwel, Hanover Park and Lavender Hill.
There were also high rates of drug-related activity in Steenberg.
Police seized more than 3 000 batches of tik, dagga, mandrax and other drugs in April, May and June.
Although there were more than 400 arrests in three months, Smith said this did not necessarily mean drug dealing was on the rise. “This is police-initiated. The more operations they do, the more they will find. The statistics do not tell you whether drug dealing increases or decreases. It only tells whether more operations are being done.”
In swoops on suspected drug dens in Manenberg last month, officers arrested four people with 18 packets of tik. In Atlantis, seven people were arrested after being found with dagga by metro police on “high visibility” patrols.
A few days earlier, police arrested a Kensington man after a CCTV operator spotted what was a possible drug transaction on the Cape Town station deck. The man was found to have unga and a large sum of cash on him.
Over the first weekend of last month, 12 people were nabbed in Manenberg, Atlantis, Grassy Park, Garden Village and other areas. Tik, dagga and mandrax were among the drugs seized.
The city launched a three-year drug harm minimisation strategy last year, and this year is to spend just over R5 million on outpatient treatment.
There are four Matrix outpatient sites in Cape Town. They treat about 1 000 people a year. Provincial treatment centres help about 5 000 people a year. The city health department is in early talks with provincial hospitals and private clinics to have beds available for patients at a subsidised rate.
bronwynne.jooste@inl.co.za
Cape Argus