19 May 2006: ISS Today: SARS Officials Make Drug Bust Worth Millions
19 May 2006: SARS officials make drug bust worth millions
Alex Eliseev, The Star
On 10 May 2006, the South African Revenue Service (SARS), working in conjunction with the South African Police Service and Immigration officials intercepted and seized one of the biggest consignments of Mandrax that law enforcement agencies in South Africa have ever come across. An estimated 2,5 million tablets of Mandrax were stopped from reaching intended consumers in a display of the spin-offs of cooperation among the country’s law enforcement agencies.
Commentary
The tablets, which sell for 60 rand each according to police, would have fetched R150 million from street sales. It is interesting to note that from this crime alone (drug trafficking) others would have to follow in order for the drug syndicates to enjoy the material benefits of engaging in this business. These crimes include laundering, tax evasion, fraud, and illegal foreign exchange dealing.
During the course of tracking the container (carrying Mandrax hidden inside wooden panelled doors) from a harbour in China’s Zhejiang province, the authorities had to weigh up the possibilities of making arrests against the dangers of having the drugs end up in the market. The fact that no arrests were made in that operation shows that stopping the drugs from reaching the market eventually became the first priority.
In spite of notable improvements in anti-drug operations over the past year, drugs are still widely available in the streets, with the result that their prices remain stable. Experts have noted three distinct trends in relation to the usage of illegal drugs over the last few months: “[firstly], that more adolescents are using drugs than before, the second is that users are becoming younger each year and, thirdly, people are starting to take harder and more addictive drugs” (1).
Harsh socio-economic conditions propel people towards engaging in illegal drug activity. Note the case of Zimbabwean peasant farmers from Makhakhavule Village, near Beitbridge, who on 8 May 2006, were arrested following the discovery of over 40 Cannabis plantations along the nearby Umzingwane River (2). Evidently, the Cannabis plantations, believed by the police to have been in existence over a period of three years, were a crucial source of income to these villagers, whose country’s economy is currently in a severely depressed state.
Therefore, policies on the control of illegal drugs need to be revisited. Several aspects need to be addressed, amongst which are the following. Firstly, cases involving international drug syndicates are difficult to prosecute due to strict rules of evidence. Therefore, the law needs to be simplified in order to make it simpler to link drug traffickers to the evidence. Secondly, for ordinary citizens that bear the brunt of drug use on a daily basis, it is necessary to have a common approach towards educating minors on the dangers of drug use in order to reduce the chances of more people getting involved in illegal drug use. Thirdly, innovative ways to get rural and depressed sectors of the economy to perform better should be pursued, so that these sectors can be prevented from embarking upon illegal activities.
Mpho Mashaba
1. “Western Cape ‘losing battle” against tik”, Cape Times, 29 March 2006
2. “Police discover 3ha of mbanje” The Herald, 09 May 2006. http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=2965&cat=1
