Durban — An SANDF battalion stationed along the South African and eSwatini border stumbled on 28 bags of dagga valued at almost R6 million.
Captain A Tamela from the Joint Tactical Headquarters KwaZulu-Natal said that on Wednesday, July 31, “8 SA Infantry Battalion made a mark at Mshololo when they discovered 28 bags of abandoned dagga with an estimated street value of R5 880 000.00.
“This substantial discovery was seized and subsequently handed over to the Pongola police station for further investigation.”
Acting Officer Commanding 8 SA Infantry Battalion, Major KWC Abrahams, commended the hard work and commitment of the soldiers.
The SAPS was approached for comment regarding the recovery.
Tamela added that 8 SA Infantry Battalion is currently stationed along the Republic of South Africa/eSwatini border in northern KZN.
She said their duties entail preventing illegal cross-border movements of persons, contraband, livestock, weapons, drugs, and vehicles across the international borderline and this operation is under the codename Operation Corona.
Tamela also said it was important to note that there are deployed elements of the 10 South African Infantry Battalion on the Republic of South Africa/Mozambique border and the Durban Light Infantry Regiment on the Republic of South Africa/Lesotho border.
“The deployed forces in the KwaZulu-Natal borderline continue working hard, with commitment, dedication and zeal to achieve the set objectives,” Tamela said.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Alpha Company, within 1 South African Infantry Battalion, conducted an operation at Esidakeni in Pongola which led to the discovery of abandoned dagga. The dagga was handed over to the Military Police for processing and further administration, it is estimated to have a significant street value of R452 256.
In another incident, a section from Alpha Company conducted an operation at Belgrade, where two males were spotted coming from eSwatini carrying five bags wrapped with black masking tape. They were heading towards the N2 road in Pongola. When the soldiers approached them, they dropped the bags and ran back to eSwatini. The Military Police were called. The dagga is estimated to be worth R2 671 620.
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