A regulation Operation Corona foot patrol in northern KwaZulu-Natal brought just reward with confiscation of R1.5 million plus worth of dagga by South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers.
The soldiers from 4 SA Infantry (SAI) Battalion in Mpumalanga’s Middelburg are now in the sixth month of a border protection deployment working the Eswatini and Mozambique borders with KwaZulu-Natal.
Their 20 March patrol in the Sitilo area, not far from the Eswatini border, went silent when voices were heard coming from a sugarcane field. A stealthy approach revealed people gathered near a water pump, Captain Anelisiwe Tamela reported for SANDF Joint Operations Tactical Headquarters KwaZulu-Natal.
The approach was not stealthy enough and saw suspects flee, leaving behind seven large bags which, on inspection, were found to be full of dagga. The confiscated drugs were taken to the police where the bags were weighed, revealing 366 kg of dagga with a street value of R1 537 200.
For soldiers deployed on the border protection tasking, confiscating drugs from smugglers intent on getting “product” to illegal markets in South Africa is an almost daily event. As examples, Mozambicans, along with Batswana, were prevented from illegally importing drugs valued just short of R160 000 in February. These confiscations were substantially down on the R2.27 million recorded in January.
Some other successes recorded by troops on border patrol this month included recovering illicit cigarettes and impounding illegally grazing animals.
Members of 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment deployed in Musina were patrolling along the Limpopo River when they spotted a group of people loading bags into a white Toyota Quantum that was parked in the bushes. When the suspects saw the South African soldiers, they immediately dropped the bags and fled on foot across the border into Zimbabwe, Captain Moses Semono reported. Upon investigation, soldiers discovered 10 master boxes of Remington Gold Cigarettes, which were valued at R218 520. The Quantum, valued at R450 000, was also confiscated as it aided criminal activities.
On 10 March, soldiers deployed at Maluti Operational Base carried out a joint operation with game rangers at Ongeluks Nek on the border with Lesotho. The intelligence-driven operation saw the confiscation of 312 cows worth R3.1 million for illegal grazing.
