DRUG BLITZ HITS TRAINS

With an early-morning blitz today, police and Metrorail launched a fight to
reclaim peak-hour commuter trains from druglords and robbers who stalk it
as their turf. Community safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane went along for the
ride on the wild side - in which one suspect dived from a moving train to
escape police.

Ramatlakane said the surprise raids would become a regular occurrence over
the holidays.

He joined forces on the Khayelitsha line, where trains were stopped and
commuters searched at Philippi station and Nolungile station in Khayelitsha.

Police seized a big haul of dagga, Mandrax and Ecstasy tablets from drug
pushers. A well-dressed man, believed to be a drug dealer, dived out of the
moving train through an open window at Mutual Station near Pinelands when
police descended. He got away.

A stash of drugs was found in a bag under his seat. Commuter unit officer
Captain Benny van Rhyn said drug-dealing on trains was one of their biggest
headaches and fuelled other crime in coaches, including robbery and assault.

Metrorail regional manager Andre Harrison said train drivers regularly
complained of being "smoked out" by dagga fumes seeping into their cabs.
Van Rhyn said drug dealers were known to be regular commuters on the train.

Big pushers claimed specific trains as their turf and forced other dealers
and their runners out to protect their captive market.

Ramatlakane, who has boasted that he "walks the talk" when it comes to
fighting crime, said he had decided today to "ride the talk" when he
boarded a packed train between Nolungile and Philippi stations to see for
himself what commuters experienced.

When police, Metro security and a media contingent boarded a
Khayelitsha-bound train from Cape Town station shortly after 4am it became
clear why crime thrived on trains.

The coach shared by the officer commanding the operation, Director Gys
Boonzaaier, had no lights, several doors locked or barred and many windows
missing. At times it was so dark in the coach you could not discern the
person next to you. Two dealers were spotted in the coach, one the man who
bailed out of the window. The other was found with a bank bag full of dagga.

Police found at least two men carrying registered pistols, one of which was
cocked and had a bullet in the chamber ready to be fired.

Ramatlakane said today's operation was part of the broader "Safety on
Trains" programme he had launched two weeks ago.

"Our efforts will help the Western Cape become the safest place this
festive season," he said.

"We will not allow an environment where there is a free-for-all exchange of
drugs on trains.

"This operation will become a regular feature during this (festive) time
because we want our people to feel safe as they carry their year-end
earnings home."

Commuters were divided about the merits. Some claimed the operation was a
waste of time and should have been held in the afternoon when the worst
crimes took place. Others shouted at Ramatlakane, objecting to the search.

But other commuters felt it would make them safe.

l Cable theft on the Mitchell's Plain and Simon's Town lines made trains late.