Hawks ready to team up with Interpol after R500m cocaine bust on Cape wine farm

The Hawks are considering teaming up with international police agencies as one of the largest drug busts in South African history points to a European connection.

A 23-year-old Dutch citizen will appear in Caledon Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with a R500-million cocaine bust on the Eerstehoop wine farm‚ between Bot River and Villiersdorp in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. Two other people who were also arrested in the police raid on Wednesday morning were released without charge.

Police confirmed that more than 250 boxes of cocaine were packed among more than 480 pallets of wine destined for export.

The farm produces some of South Africa’s top wines under the Eerste Hoop label and has a Belgian owner‚ Lode Lemahieu. TimesLIVE made contact with Lemahieu's office in Bruges but his representative there did not respond to questions.

Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said they still needed to profile the suspect before considering whether to involve Interpol.

Police spokesman Brigadier Novella Potelwa said the discovery of the drugs was seen “as the beginning of an extensive investigation”.

He added: “Part of the investigation would be to also determine where the drugs originate from as well as the ultimate destination.”

Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato congratulated the police on the seizure‚ saying it would “certainly rattle the kingpins”.

“The biggest and furthest-reaching investigation possible is required to uncover the scourge of drugs in communities in the Western Cape‚ the gangs which peddle them‚ the gun-wielding gangsters running around with total disregard for the life of others‚ as well as the kingpins orchestrating these criminal acts‚ murders as well as manufacturing‚ selling and seemingly exportation of drugs‚” said Plato.

“The biggest drug bust in the province‚ if not the country‚ will certainly rattle the kingpins who continuously operate as if they are above the law. The police’s intelligence-led investigation will have to connect all these dots to see that all involved do not go unpunished.”