Five Arrested In Joint Raids

POLICE TURN UP THE HEAT ON DRUG DEALERS IN COUNCIL HOUSING

METRO POLICE officers were out in force in Lavender Hill and Retreat
yesterday to give suspected drug dealers the message: "The heat is
on, so stop now with your illegal trade or face the might of the law."

Using sledgehammers, bolt cutters and specially designed crowbars, a
squad of Metro Police officers and their SA Police Service
counterparts raided a number of houses in the two suburbs looking for
drugs, targeting mainly council-owned properties suspected of being
used as drug outlets.

One of the raids was so swift that it took a team of Metro Police
officers only seven seconds to seal off escape routes, remove a
burglar gate and enter a house, to the bewilderment of its occupants.

After officers informed the occupants that search warrants had been
obtained, their fingerprints were electronically scanned with a
hand-held device (Morphis) to check if they were on the wanted list,
and a sniffer dog made a thorough search.

Glen Kleinsmith, a member of a council anti-drug task team, said:
"Our focus is to deal with the scourge of drugs and alcohol in the
community, specifically trading on council-owned property .

"On Wednesday, we raided about 18 places, including Hanover Park and
Bellville South. Our work covers the whole metro and as far as
Atlantis, Maccasar and Strand. In this week alone, about 30 houses
were raided. It's an ongoing task and we'll do it every day. We want
to keep the heat on drug dealers and hit them as hard as possible."

Yesterday's first raid, at Fawley Court in Lavender Hill, was
followed about 25 minutes later by raids at flats in Horstley Court,
in Retreat. Four men and a woman were frisked outside a house where a
tik lollie (glass tube to smoke tik) was found.

A fifth man was taken into custody after a packet of tik was
allegedly found in his shoe. His argument that it was salt fell on
deaf ears as the raid team of about 30 sped to a house in Elsie
Manning Street, Cafda Village.

There, after knocking down part of a brick wall, they found two
antique guns, two packets of tik, two lollies, unused straws and a
stolen motorbike.

A man and a woman were arrested.

The council's safety and security committee chairperson, JP Smith,
said: "This is a joint operation and SAPS is the leading agency. We
co-operate as much as we can. Drugs are a very serious problem.

Most crimes in the city are drug-related because people are stealing
and mugging simply to get money to buy drugs."

Smith said the raids showed that the bulk of the men and women of the
Metro Police were dedicated and efficient.

He repeated the council's appeal for residents to report drug dealing
from council houses.