News24 | Russian national among two arrested as police seize R252m worth of cocaine in Stilbaai

Western Cape police found 14 bags containing bricks of cocaine hidden in a rubber duck on Friday. (Halden Krog/The Times/Gallo Images)

• Police arrested two men, including a Russian national, in Stilbaai, Western Cape, and seized drugs valued at R252 million. 
• The provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Christopher Spies, said the arrests were made on Friday evening. 
• Police found 14 bags containing bricks of cocaine hidden in a rubber duck. 

Police arrested two men, including a Russian national, for illicit drug trade and seized drugs worth an estimated R252 million in Stilbaai in the Western Cape.

According to the provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Christopher Spies, the arrests were made on Friday evening. Spies said at about 18:50 on Friday, officers attached to the Stilbaai police station acted on information about suspicious activity at the harbour. 

He said the officers spotted the vehicle with a rubber duck on its trailer that fitted the description according to the information received. 

He said the vehicle sped off and a chase ensued. 

"Police brought the vehicle, a Toyota Pajero, to a halt at Jongensfontein Road in Stilbaai where the occupants got out and fled into the bushes. The members pursued the men. Their freedom was short-lived when the members tracked down the men and arrested them at a local accommodation establishment." 

Spies added that while searching the rubber duck, police found 14 bags containing bricks of cocaine.  The cocaine, as well as the vehicle, trailer and rubber duck were confiscated. 

"The suspects, a 48-year-old man from Gauteng and a 39-year-old Russian national, remain in police custody," he said, adding that the pair will appear in court once charged.

He said an investigation into the find is under way and the matter was being investigated by the Hawks. 

READ | R2bn in chemicals confiscated during Hawks 'drug lab' bust

Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile said the arrests and confiscation were in line with the focus by police to eradicate the illicit drug trade in the province. 

Also on Friday, Hawks swooped in on a clandestine "drug lab" in Limpopo and confiscated chemicals used to make illicit drugs with an estimated street value of more than R2 billion.

National Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the "multi-million [rand] clandestine laboratory was discovered" on a farm in Groblersdal. 

The Hawks, along with local police, held an intelligence-driven operation on Friday in which they confiscated the materials.

"The Hawks in Limpopo received information about suspicious activities taking place at the farm, which was then operationalised, and the multi-disciplinary team pounced. Four structures on the property were searched, and large quantities of chemicals used in the manufacturing of illicit drugs were found," said Mogale.

She added that four people had been arrested during the operation, including the farm owner.