Western Cape police seize 125 000 mandrax tablets in ten days
Nine operations from Lwandle to Beaufort West have taken more than 125 000 mandrax tablets, 5kg of cocaine and dozens of suspects off the streets, and four Oudtshoorn convictions show the cases are landing in court.
Western Cape police seized more than 125 000 mandrax tablets, 5kg of cocaine and quantities of crystal meth, heroin, khat and dagga in a run of intelligence-led operations across the province in the first half of September, arresting suspects aged between 18 and 71.
As Cape Town outlet CapeTown ETC reported on 15 September, provincial minister of police oversight and community safety Anroux Marais praised the agencies involved and singled out the residents who pass on information about drug activity.
The operations ran from Lwandle to Beaufort West. On 6 September, Public Order Police seized 74 mandrax tablets and two packets of crystal meth in Lwandle and arrested a 25-year-old suspect. The same day, Operation Prosper swept Nyanga, Elsies River, Bellville and Kraaifontein, netting khat, mandrax, crystal meth, dagga and cash, and four men aged between 36 and 41 were arrested.
On 7 September in Manenberg, Public Order Police seized 309 sachets of crystal meth, 154 packets of cocaine, 10 heroin straws and four mandrax tablets, and arrested a 19-year-old.
Two days later, 27 270 mandrax tablets were seized in Parow and a 39-year-old man was arrested. On 10 September, a tactical operation on the N1 at Beaufort West produced 57 000 mandrax tablets and 5kg of cocaine, and a 46-year-old driver was arrested.
On 12 September, the Flying Squad and Crime Intelligence seized 41 000 mandrax tablets valued at R2,05 million in Kraaifontein and arrested a 44-year-old man.
Over the following weekend, operations in Ravensmead, Elsies River and Bonteheuwel produced a further 197 sachets of crystal meth, 127 mandrax tablets and other drugs. Eight suspects, aged 18 to 71, were arrested.
What the seizures are worth
Mandrax is a sedative that has been part of the Western Cape drug market for decades, and the tablet counts matter because they translate directly into street-level sales. The 41 000 tablets seized in Kraaifontein alone were valued at R2,05 million. The 57 000 tablets taken on the N1 at Beaufort West point to a supply route running into the province from outside it, which is why a highway stop produced the largest single haul of the period.
The spread of the arrests is also notable. Suspects ranged from a 19-year-old in Manenberg to a 71-year-old over the weekend of 13 and 14 September, which reflects both street-level dealing and the older networks that sit behind it.
Marais said the seizures strike at the money that criminal networks use to fund other activity, including the flow of illegal firearms into Western Cape communities.
Arrests are not the end of the process
Marais used the briefing to make a point that police leadership does not always make in public. An arrest, she said, is not the end of the process. The investigation must be thorough, evidence must be properly gathered, and cases must be prepared so that prosecutors have the best chance of securing convictions.
The record supports the point. In an Oudtshoorn drug case, four suspects arrested in April 2025 were subsequently convicted. Roberto Khumalo and Ziphozihle Diamond received 15-year sentences and Emile Spogter was sentenced to six years.
That is the outcome that changes a street. A seizure removes drugs from circulation for a week. A 15-year sentence removes a person from the network for a decade and a half.
What residents will notice
The operations were concentrated in the communities where drug dealing and gang violence are most visible, including Nyanga, Manenberg, Elsies River, Ravensmead and Bonteheuwel. For residents of those areas, the immediate effect is more police presence and more arrests, and the longer effect depends on whether the cases that follow hold up in court.
Marais thanked residents who report criminal activity, saying their information enables law enforcement to disrupt the networks responsible for ongoing killings in the province, and urged the public to keep reporting.
Information can be given anonymously through SAPS Crime Stop on 08600 10111, the MySAPS mobile application, or the City of Cape Town tip-off line on 0800 110077.
Source: CapeTown ETC, Western Cape police deliver decisive blows to drug syndicates.
