Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Anroux Marais, says the latest series of drug busts carried out across the province is a blow to criminal networks that profit from the illicit drug trade.
Last week, authorities seized drugs worth over R7,9 million in Kraaifontein, Beaufort West, Parow, Manenberg, Lwandle, Nyanga, Elsies River and Bellville.
In the latest operation, police arrested a 44-year-old Zimbabwean truck driver in Kraaifontein on Saturday after drugs worth over R2 million were found in his truck.
READ MORE: Zimbabwean man in court over R2-million mandrax bust
Two days prior, Western Cape Organised Crime Investigations, Crime Intelligence and Beaufort West police intercepted a vehicle on the N1 in Beaufort West and seized 57 000 mandrax tablets and 5kg of cocaine worth R5,85 million. The 46-year-old driver was arrested for dealing in drugs.
READ MORE: Suspect found with nearly R6 million in drugs on N1
Among the recent successes are the seizure of 74 mandrax tablets and two packets of crystal meth in Lwandle on Sunday, 6 September 2026. In a separate operation on the same day, Operation Prosper members seized khat, mandrax tablets, crystal meth, dagga and an undisclosed amount of cash during operations in Nyanga, Elsies River, Bellville and Kraaifontein. Five suspects were arrested for possession and dealing in drugs.
On Monday, 7 September 2026, a 19-year-old man was arrested after Public Order Police seized 309 sachets of crystal meth, 154 packets of cocaine, 10 heroin straws and four mandrax tablets in Manenberg. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, SAPS members arrested a 39-year-old man after officers seized 27 270 mandrax tablets at a residence on Da Gama Street, Parow.
Marais says these operations demonstrate the determination of law enforcement agencies in the Western Cape to target the criminal economy that fuels violence, gangsterism and the ongoing killings in communities across the province.
“These successes are a blow to criminal networks that profit from the illicit drug trade and use these proceeds to sustain other criminal activities, including the proliferation of illegal firearms.”
The minister has urged residents to keep reporting suspicious activity and criminality to law enforcement agencies. She added that this information enables law enforcement agencies to disrupt the activities of the criminal networks responsible for the ongoing killings in the Western Cape.
“We must work even harder to break the back of these evil criminal networks. An arrest is not the end of the process. The investigation must be thorough, evidence must be properly gathered, and cases must be prepared in a manner that gives prosecutors the best possible opportunity to secure convictions,” said Minister Marais
