Barberton sergeant and two Eswatini nationals held with R62 000 dagga at Burgersfort roadblock
Police at a stop-and-search roadblock on the R37 outside Burgersfort arrested a 46-year-old sergeant stationed at Barberton SAPS and two Eswatini nationals after finding three parcels of dagga in the car he was driving. Police put the street value of the dagga at R62 000, and the three were charged with possession and transportation of dagga.
🇿🇦 R37 roadblock next to L50 Farm, outside Burgersfort, Limpopo · South Africa
Police in Burgersfort arrested a 46-year-old police sergeant and two Eswatini
nationals for alleged possession and transportation of dagga on Thursday 18 May
2023 at about 11:00.[1]Officers were running a stop-and-search operation at a
roadblock along the R37 next to L50 Farm when they stopped a white Volkswagen
Polo with Mpumalanga registration plates carrying three occupants.[1]They
asked to search the car after smelling an unpleasant odour inside, and found
three big parcels wrapped in brown tape on the back seat.[1]One of the
suspects confirmed the parcels held dagga, and police arrested the three on the
spot for possession and transportation of dagga.[1]
The driver was a 46-year-old sergeant stationed at Barberton SAPS in Mpumalanga
province.[1]His two accomplices, aged 30 and 35, were foreign nationals from
Eswatini holding valid passports.[1]Police said they confiscated dagga with
an estimated street value of R62 000.[2]
The three suspects face charges of possession and transportation of dagga and
were expected to appear before the Burgersfort Magistrates Court soon.[3]The
Citizen reports the account through Limpopo SAPS spokesperson Colonel Malesela
Ledwaba; dagga is the South African term for cannabis.[2]
Photos and video
Police handout photo published with the report on the Burgersfort roadblock, captioned to show the three suspects arrested while transporting dagga in a Volkswagen Polo. Photo: Supplied/ LowvelderPhoto details
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Source: The CitizenPhoto captioned as officers with the dagga confiscated at the stop-and-search roadblock on the R37 next to L50 Farm. Photo: Supplied/ LowvelderPhoto details
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Source: The CitizenVertical photo published with the Daily Sun account, captioned to show the three suspects arrested with dagga worth R62 000. Photo: SuppliedPhoto details
South African Police Servicesaps.gov.zaBurgersfort police nabbed three suspects including a 46-year-old police officer for alleged possession and transportation of dagga
No weight was given for the three parcels of dagga; only the police estimate of an R62 000 street value was published.
No court appearance date or outcome was reported, and it is not known whether the sergeant faced a police disciplinary process.
The Citizen's own caption for the second photo gives the value as more than R60 000, while its text and the SAPS statement give R62 000; the report uses R62 000.
The Citizen republishes a Lowvelder article and reproduces the same Limpopo SAPS statement as the Daily Sun and South Africa Today accounts, so the outlets are not independent reporting.
The Daily Sun headline says trafficking, while the statement and the charge wording say possession and transportation of dagga.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in South African Police Service: Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe said there must be consequences when officers are the ones breaking the law.
Left out force, as its quotation was not found in South African Police Service.
Police stopped a red SUV on the R81 road at Ximuwini near Malamulele and found 14 plastic refuse bags of dagga, which Limpopo police valued at an estimated R662,400. The 55-year-old driver was detained at Malamulele Police Station and was due in the Malamulele Magistrate's Court on 9 November on a charge of dealing in dagga.
Police and private security arrested a driver after a high-speed chase from Sinoville to Bon Accord in Pretoria on 7 November 2026. Officers seized 240kg of dagga with an estimated street value of R960,000 from the vehicle and confiscated the vehicle.
Mpumalanga police stopped a 39-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal in a white Nissan NP200 at Mahamba before dawn on 3 November 2026 and found 30 rolls holding 158.2 kg of compressed dagga, which they valued at R1 million. He was charged with dealing in dagga and was expected in the Mkhondo Magistrate's Court on 5 November.
Acting on a tip-off, North West police stopped 21-year-old Lusanda Nhlangothi on the N12 near Christiana and found 4.654 kg of compressed dagga packed in two 20-litre drums. He was charged, appeared in court on 29 October and was remanded until a 5 November bail hearing.
