Kameeldrift hemp farmer arrested in 2004 raid; charges later dropped
Police raided Russel de Beer's Kameeldrift-area hemp farm on 9 February 2004 and arrested him for dealing in dagga after he failed to produce a permit. The charges were later withdrawn, and courts dismissed his malicious-prosecution suit against the police.
On 9 February 2004, Inspector Westmaas of the Assen police station and fellow officers searched cannabis farmer Russel de Beer’s farm in the Kameeldrift area on a magistrate’s warrant, after an informant claimed De Beer was growing dagga on the farm and selling it.[1]De Beer could produce no permit, so Westmaas arrested him and took him to the Assen police station, where he was charged under the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.[1]He spent a night in a cell and was granted R8,000bail the next day at the Brits magistrate’s court.[2]
De Beer said he had come from Switzerland to research industrial hemp with the Agricultural Research Council, that the council had planted the crop in 2002, and that he held a permit covering 1.2 tons of seed; he denied ever dealing in, selling or using cannabis.[2]The criminal case dragged on for nearly a year before all charges were withdrawn.[2]He then sued the police for R620,000 for malicious prosecution; the Pretoria High Court dismissed the claim, finding reasonable grounds for the arrest, and the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed the dismissal on 3 September 2010.[2][1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Mpumalanga police arrested six people during Safer Festive Season operations in the Gert Sibande District on 10 and 11 November 2026, seizing dagga worth about R50,000. A further suspect fled on foot after abandoning a white sedan carrying five bags of dagga on the N2.
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.
