Two foreign nationals were at the centre of a possible drug syndicate in the Erongo region.[1] A 22-year-old man claiming to be a Burundian national was arrested at a warehouse in an industrial area of Swakopmund on suspicion of selling powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, dagga and mandrax tablets.[1] On the same day, Erongo police apprehended a 27-year-old man at Mondesa, who said he was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, for possession of 220 g of dagga valued at N$11 000.[1] Deputy commissioner Erastus Iikuyu, the Erongo crime investigations coordinator, confirmed both arrests.[1] Neither man had identification documents, and verification of their refugee status was ongoing.[1]

The two men were linked with a 30-year-old Namibian man arrested at a house at Tamariskia for dealing in five medium and seven large parcels of dagga with a street value of N$425 000.[1] They were also linked with a 31-year-old woman arrested on 11 February at Narraville Service Station at Walvis Bay for allegedly selling dagga with a street value of N$16 250.[1] Since the beginning of February, Erongo police had apprehended 29 people for dealing in or possessing dagga, mandrax and cocaine with a combined street value of over N$1 million.[1]

Police raided a dagga plantation at Omaruru, finding 22 plants weighing 14,945 g with a street value of N$149,450.[1] Two male suspects aged 45 and 65 were arrested in connection with the Omaruru plantation.[1] Most of the substance was found at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, with the plant also found at Otjimbingwe, Henties Bay, Omaruru and Usakos.[1] The use and cultivation of dagga, the local term for cannabis, is prohibited in Namibia under Act 41 of 1971.[1]