A Nigerian and his South African wife have been arrested in one of the biggest heroin and ecstasy busts in KZN.
|||Durban - A Nigerian, suspected of being a druglord and his South African wife, a cleaner at a Durban hotel, have been arrested in one of the biggest heroin and ecstasy busts in KwaZulu-Natal.
Police seized more than 16 000 ecstasy tablets and 10kg of heroin with a street value of more than R5 million.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said the couple were allegedly supplying the areas in the greater Durban area - Chatsworth, Wentworth and Phoenix - with drugs.
Ecstasy tablets sell at between R85 and R100 a tablet while a kilogram of heroin makes up to 700 straws of sugars, the highly addictive derivative that is plaguing these areas.
The couple were arrested at the weekend as they arrived at a plush house in the gated Panorama Park estate at Illovo Beach.
They were renting the house for R10 000 a month, a police source said.
Police also swooped on the couple’s rented home, a flat in uMhlanga, where more cash and drugs were reportedly found. Police said R150 000 in cash was found in the kitchen.
They were renting the flat for R8 000 a month. Police have also interviewed the landlords at both the uMhlanga flat and the house on the Illovo Beach estate.
Police were tipped off a week ago about the couple’s alleged activities.
The bust was made by the Durban Organised Crime Narcotics Unit headed by Colonel AK Hoosen.
The couple were allegedly operating a drug laboratory in Illovo. The source said more than R50 000 in cash was found hidden in an oven in the house.
“The drug lab was fully equipped. More than 10kg of a powder substance, believed to be heroin, was found as well as other mixing agents such as corn starch and toxic chemicals,” the source said.
“These chemicals and mixing agents are used to bulk the heroin to create Sugars.”
There was also allegedly a drying out and sieving area in the lab.
“Once the chemicals are mixed into the heroin it is dried and then sieved to create a fine powder.”
The source said DNA and fingerprints had been taken from the lab.
“If this comes up positive, more arrests could be on the cards. From the size of this operation it is clear that the couple were not operating alone.”
The source said the Nigerian suspect had arrived in the country in December.
“All his documents are in order. He is in the country legally. His wife is a cleaner at a Durban hotel.”
He said investigations revealed the man was building a palatial home in Nigeria.
“We have seen pictures. It looks like something out of a movie. Almost like a hotel.
“There are indications that he could be laundering money out of the country.”
The source said from the way the money was packaged, it appeared it was being smuggled across the border.
The source said two vehicles, a brand new Toyota Corolla and a Hyundai Getz, had also been seized.
“Our intelligence has it that these two cars have been spotted in the South region regularly. The Nigerian national has been working with some of the biggest druglords in the Chatsworth and Shallcross areas.”
He said it was a matter of time before they too were arrested.
The couple were expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday on drug dealing charges.
Daily News