Mozambican drug dealer who was arrested at a Covid-19 roadblock sentenced

South Africa - Durban - 28 March 2020 - Military polices stopping vehicles in uMlazi and asking motorists where there are going to. This is done during lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency(ANA)

South Africa - Durban - 28 March 2020 - Military polices stopping vehicles in uMlazi and asking motorists where there are going to. This is done during lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Jul 30, 2023

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Johannesburg - Lewis Johnson, 69, has been sentenced to 15 years for drug dealing. The Mozambican national was arrested during a police Covid-19 roadblock.

Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe said that police stopped a White LWB van and requested a permit from the driver since Covid-19 was at level 5.

"The driver could not produce the necessary permit, and members continued to search the said vehicle. On searching the vehicle, the police discovered tik (crystal methamphetamine) weighing 12.6kg with an estimated street value of R 3 971 268. The Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team successfully investigated the matter, resulting in a conviction," said Thebe.

Thebe said that the accused was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.

The provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major-General Steve Mabuela, said the sentence would definitely send out the message that drug dealing was bad and was destroying the country’s youth.

In Limpopo, a 28-year-old mentally challenged woman who was highly pregnant and living at Ga-Matshana Penge had a baby, and her infant child slipped into a pit toilet while she was using the restroom to relieve herself.

SAPS spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the Search and Rescue Team as well as Emergency Services Personnel discovered the stillborn baby and retrieved it.

"The woman is still in hospital for medical attention, and the police have opened a case of concealment of birth," added Ledwaba.

The Star