Drug ring bust getting high on own supply

Members of a drug ring were allegedly openly using their own merchandise in a bar when police arrested them in Evander, Mpumalanga, on Friday.

Nine men were arrested at the weekend, with warrants out for the arrest of six more, all Nigerians.

Cocaine and methcathinone (cat) were allegedly recovered, according to Captain Paul Ramaloko. The street value of the drugs ran into millions, he said.

Police said the group had allegedly operated in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West.

According to Ramaloko, police learned that the drug ring convened at the bar on Fridays to celebrate the week's trading.

In a pub not open to the public, "they would drink whisky and use their own drugs", he said.

The network of dealers had been operating in Secunda, Middelburg, Evander, Springs, Brits and Benoni, said Ramaloko.

Once all 15 men had been arrested, they would be charged with drug dealing and money laundering, said Ramaloko.

Police have yet to uncover information about the labs in which the drugs were made.

Ramaloko said it was not clear whether this ring was related to laboratories found in separate busts in the past few months.

Two large operations earlier this year each yielded finds of billions of rands worth of drugs.

In March, about three tons of mandrax was seized in Benoni on the East Rand. The street value was estimated to be R2-billion.

In June, uncut heroin worth over R2-billion was seized from an international drug cartel near Durban, in the town of Kloof.