WELKOM – There have been three major breakthroughs in combatting drug trafficking Odendaalsrus and Welkom over the past weeks.

On 4 July the Welkom Anti-Gang Unit arrested a 30-year-old man after finding nyaope and crystal meth on his person.

Members of the unit received intelligence-led information about a suspected drug dealer in the K6 location. When the suspect spotted officers he fled on foot.
With assistance from community members, police apprehended the man and searched him.

The police confiscated 18 small ziplock bags of nyaope and 12 small packets of crystal meth that were found hidden inside his underwear. He was subsequently arrested for possession of drugs.

Two days earlier, on 2 July members attached to the Welkom Public Order Police (POP) have arrested a 38-year-old foreign national after suspected drugs were discovered at his residence in Sandania in Welkom.

The POP members were conducting crime combating duties when they received information about a man selling drugs at a particular house in Sandania.

While searching the house members found 108 small ziplock bags of CAT, 10 sachets of crystal meth, 8 full mandrax tablets, a small electronic scale, and cash presumed to be proceeds of crime.
The suspect is facing charges of possession of suspected drugs and dealing in drugs.

This arrest follows a major drug trafficking operation less than a week earlier on 25 June in Odendaalsrus in which three undocumented immigrants were arrested and drugs worth R130 000 seized.

A multidisciplinary team executed the intelligence-driven operation on 25 June. Th comprising Free State Provincial Organised Crime Investigation, Welkom Crime Intelligence, the Provincial Crime Intelligence Surveillance Unit, Selosesha Tactical Response Team, and the Welkom Anti-Gang Unit, executed the operation.

The three foreign nationals have approximately 10 other pending cases before the court.
Azusor Ikennia John Kennedy (37), Orji Evalictus Okechukwu (36) and Henrietta Sibanda (31) appeared in the Odendaalsrus Magistrate’s Court on 26 June. They face charges under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, with additional charges under the Immigration Act expected to be added. The suspects remain in custody.

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