{"id":77892,"date":"2025-04-03T12:15:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=77892"},"modified":"2025-04-03T12:15:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:15:49","slug":"police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Police nab suspects on drug charges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Seven suspected drug dealers were arrested in Welkom and Viljoenskroon following an extensive multi-disciplinary police sweep.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>The suspects, all aged between 19 and 37 years, were arrested for alleged dealing in drugs and possession of drugs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The raids took place on Thursday, 27 March, and were done by a multi-disciplinary team comprising Serious Organised Crime Investigation detectives of the Hawks, Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team, K9, and the Local Criminal Record Center. This is following the successful conclusion of the Hawks&#8217; operations dubbed &#8220;Duncan&#8221; in Welkom and &#8220;Dlumina&#8221; in Viljoenskroon.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Operation Duncan was initiated in September 2023 in response to intelligence about drug peddling in Welkom. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, Operation Dlumina, established in August 2022, sought to eliminate drugs in Viljoenskroon by targeting organised drug dealers. Mandrax, cocaine, and crystal meth was recovered during numerous mock transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brig. Paulus Touch Mbongo, acting Free State head of the Hawks, has praised everyone involved in the operations for their patient hard work. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A drug syndicate has been untangled. We regard cutting the supply of drugs to young people in the Goldfields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" data-attachment-id=\"77958\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\/hawsarrest2_71673-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Hawsarrest2_71673\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1-1024x768.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77958\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest2_71673-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Following the successful conclusion of Hawks operations dubbed Duncan in Welkom and Dlumina in Viljoenskroon, the Directorate For Priority Crime Investigation (HAWKS) arrested seven people aged between 19 and 37 in both locations for alleged dealing in drugs and possession of drugs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seven suspected drug dealers were arrested in Welkom and Viljoenskroon following an extensive multi-disciplinary police sweep. The suspects, all aged between 19 and 37 years, were arrested for alleged dealing 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Directorate For Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) arrested seven people, aged between 19 and 37, in Welkom and Viljoenskroon for alleged dealing and possession of drugs. 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The suspects, all aged between 19 and 37 years, were arrested for alleged dealing [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VistaNewsNuus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-03T10:15:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-03T10:15:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hawsarrest1_64496.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Vista\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe\"},\"headline\":\"Police nab suspects on drug charges\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T10:15:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-03T10:15:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":218,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Hawsarrest1_64496.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Crime\",\"Featured\",\"Top\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/\",\"name\":\"Police nab suspects on drug charges | Vista\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Hawsarrest1_64496.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T10:15:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-03T10:15:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/police-nab-suspects-on-drug-charges\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Hawsarrest1_64496.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Hawsarrest1_64496.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"The Directorate For Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) arrested seven people, aged between 19 and 37, in Welkom and Viljoenskroon for alleged dealing and possession of drugs. 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