The Grassy Park police will be conducting inspections at shops and investigating vendors after receiving a tip-off that vendors have been selling sweets laced with dagga to children in Ottery.
Also read: Kilos of dagga and drugs worth thousands confiscated by SAPS
According to the Southern Suburbs Tatler, a well-known drug house in Ottery was raided for R10 000 worth of compressed dagga. Soon after, police were notified about a man selling drug lollipops at a shop on Keith Road.
The 27-year-old was subsequently arrested at the shop on 20 September. Dagga-laced sweets and lollipop drugs valued in excess of R70 000 were confiscated. He will appear in the Wynberg Magistrates Court on charges of dealing in drugs.
Explore Cape Town and its surroundings with these incredible deals on cars for under R100 000. Find car listings here.
Grassy Park Police Station commander Colonel Dawood Laing says the station had previously been informed about the vendors and shopkeepers who sell the sweet to children across the precinct.
‘The vendors and shops are not vetted, the packaging is open and there’s no branding on it which means you don’t actually even know what your child is buying when they go to the shop. Parents innocently give their children money to get sweets at the shop and they can so easily buy these drug sweets without even knowing and then be exposed to these drugs and children won’t be able to differentiate between normal sweets and dagga-laced sweets.’
Laing says drug dealers are finding new ways to get children addicted. ‘This is something that we do not want for our children because dagga could be a gateway to worse drugs and could affect them very negatively at such a young age.
‘We ask [for] the community’s continued support so that we can deal with this issue and make sure that drugs are not being sold to our children. We cannot allow these drug dealers to dump their drugs on our kids and them tomorrow when they become addicts then we want to ask where the children got it or how they started experimenting.’
Nicole Jacobus, Grassy Park Community Police Forum (CPF) secretary, advises parents to keep a close eye on their children and to report it if they suspect that their children have been given drug-laced sweets.
‘We now have to be extra vigilant because the sweets could be at any shop because many sweets aren’t marked and young children could so easily be exposed. The law needs to take its full course in these cases because (…) drug dealers are killing our children and trying to get them enslaved to drugs at a young age.’
‘The only way we can curb this is with the community’s help. They should continue helping [the] police and working with the police because they cannot do it alone. We need your assistance to keep our children safe.’
Cape {town} Etc discount: Looking for things to do in the city at half the price? Let these great offers inspire you and fuel your imagination! Get them here.
Also read:
Operation Restore sees police confiscate drugs, guns and ammo
Picture: Jules A. / Unsplash