Statement by Minister Plato-Villiersdorp drug bust – full investigation needed | Western Cape Government

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Statement by Minister Plato-Villiersdorp drug bust – full investigation needed

22 June 2017

Statement by Dan Plato, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety

Villiersdorp drug bust – full investigation needed to apprehend all involved

Date: 22 June 2017

Release: Immediate

I congratulate the South African Police Service (SAPS) under the command of Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Jula, for their sterling work in Villersdorp in what is believed to be the biggest single drug bust in the Western Cape, if not in South Africa.

Some of the information confirmed to me by the provincial police management, however raises serious questions which would need to be answered through a full investigation. This is necessary to ensure that everyone involved faces the full might of the law.

The arrests of three suspects are welcomed but the sophistication of the operation can questionably not only include three people.

This is why I have today officially requested the Provincial Commissioner in writing to consider all possibilities, investigate every detail and ensure that not a single person involved is able to escape without being held accountable.

The full investigation needs to include:

  • Where the drugs were manufactured, by whom and working under instruction of which financier;
  • Where the drugs were intended to be delivered, through which transportation systems, on whose authorisation and with whose involvement;
  • Who would have taken delivery of the drugs, who would have paid for it, by which method of payment and who would have received the payment; and
  • Details for every component involved into this operation – suspects’ phones and who they have been communicating with; owners, lessors or companies involved in the farm, transportation, boxing, branded items or paperwork.

I have been informed that the Villiersdorp farm’s drugs, mostly cocaine and mandrax, have an estimated value of close to R400 million, that it was packed and concealed and intended for exportation, as well as alleged information that the drugs originates from a wine farm in the Boland.

The biggest and furthest reaching investigation possible is required to uncover the scourge of drugs in communities in the Western Cape, the gangs which peddle them, the gun-wielding gangsters running around with total disregard for the life of others, as well as the kingpins orchestrating these criminal acts, murders as well as manufacturing, selling and seemingly exportation of drugs.

The biggest drug bust in the province, if not the country will certainly rattle the kingpins who continuously operate as if they are above the law. The police’s intelligence-led investigation will have to connect all these dots to see that all involved do not go unpunished.

Our streets can only be drug free if we all play our part in exposing the criminals in our midst – especially the shadow figures, mafioso’s, kingpins and underworld bosses who blatantly violate the rule of law.

I urge anyone who has any information on to report this information to their closest police station or to call the SAPS Crime Stop number 08600 10111.

 

 

Media Enquiries: 

Ewald Botha, Spokesperson for Minister Plato – 079 694 1113