Six Eswatini nationals held with 325 kg of dagga in Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga police arrested six Eswatini nationals in two Safer Festive Season stops on 22 and 23 October 2026, seizing 325 kg of dagga worth R1.95 million from a bakkie at Mahamba and a Golf at Carolina.
🇿🇦 Mahamba and Carolina, Mpumalanga · South Africa
- Arrested
- 6
- Cannabis
- 325.2 kg
- Value (official estimate)
- ZAR 1,950,000
On the evening of Friday 23 October, officers doing stop-and-searches on the N2 near the Commondale turn-off at Mahamba stopped a white Isuzu double-cab bakkie at about 9.40 p.m. and found 33 rolls of dagga weighing about 125.2 kg and valued at R750,000.[1][2] Five Eswatini nationals aged 22 to 30 were arrested for dealing in dagga; the bakkie and the drug were seized.[1][2]
A day earlier, at about 5.20 a.m. on Thursday 22 October, police patrolling Voortrekker Street in Carolina spotted a grey Volkswagen Golf TSI with tinted windows and gave chase when it fled toward Wonderfontein Road.[1][2] Officers intercepted it near the Belfast turn-off and found about 200 kg of dagga worth R1.2 million hidden inside.[1][2] The Eswatini driver was arrested and charged with dealing in dagga, and the car and drugs were confiscated.[1][2]
The six suspects were due in the Piet Retief and Carolina magistrates’ courts.[1] Mpumalanga commissioner Lieutenant General Apaphia Modise praised the officers and said intelligence-driven patrols would continue under the Safer Festive Season operations.[1]
Photos and video
- Wrapped rolls of seized dagga pictured with the report Photos: Independent News Eswatini
Sources
- Six Eswatini nationals arrested as police seize dagga worth R1.95 million in Mpumalanga. South African Daily, 28 October 2026.
- 597kg dagga worth E3m seized in SA busts involving Emaswati. Independent News Eswatini, 27 October 2026.