Driver flees as police find 452 kg of dagga in truck near Parys
Free State police stopped a truck on the N1 south on 7 November 2026 and found 452 one-kilogram bales of dagga, but the driver jumped out of the moving vehicle about 100 metres from Parys police station and escaped on foot. The truck was impounded and its owner questioned; no arrest for the load had been reported.
🇿🇦 N1 south, near Parys, Free State · South Africa
Free State police are searching for a truck driver who jumped out of his moving
vehicle and fled on foot near Parys police station after officers stopped his
truck on the N1 south, allegedly carrying dagga from Cape Town to Johannesburg.[1][2]The Trucking and Narcotics Team stopped the truck at about noon on Saturday
7 November 2026 and escorted it towards Parys SAPS so that it could be searched
in a safe place.[3]About 100 metres from the police station the driver jumped
out of the moving truck and ran away, and police found no one in the truck when
they searched it.[3]Police had monitored the truck over several weeks and
opened an enquiry docket before the interception.[3][4][5]
In the truck officers found 452 bales of dagga, each weighing about one
kilogram, and seven packs of Mandrax, a methaqualone sedative, each also about
one kilogram.[1][2][5]Police put the street value of the whole load, dagga and
Mandrax together, at R1.5 million.[1][2][4]The truck’s owner confirmed owning the
vehicle but denied knowing about or having any link to the drugs inside it.[3][2][5]Police seized the drugs and impounded the truck, and no one had been arrested
for the load while the search for the driver continued.[3]Lieutenant Colonel
Kelello Patsa, a Free State police spokesperson, said an enquiry had been opened
and investigations were under way.[3]
EWNewn.co.zaPolice seize dagga and mandrax worth R1.5m after intercepting truck on N1
IOLiol.co.zaPolice intercept truck linked to R1.5m drug trafficking operation
Eyewitness Newsewn.co.zaThe day that was: 9 arrested heading to war, hung councils talk it out & R1.5m drug bust
EWNewn.co.zaPolice seize dagga and mandrax worth R1.5m after intercepting truck on N1
Open questions the AI reported
No one had been arrested for the load when the reports were published; the driver remained at large and no charges were reported.
The R1.5 million street value covers the dagga and the Mandrax together, so it cannot be treated as the value of the cannabis alone.
The seven packs of Mandrax are a non-cannabis substance and are not included in the cannabis weight.
Algoa FM says the truck was carrying dagga from Cape Town to Johannesburg, while IOL's quotation of the police statement says the truck was travelling towards Cape Town; the reports are inconsistent on the direction of travel.
IOL spells the spokesperson's name Kelello Patsa while Algoa FM writes Kelelo Patsa.
No photograph published with the submitted Algoa FM page could be confirmed to show the seizure, and the two IOL SAPS handout photos carry general captions about the truck.
Only the truck owner was reached; the reports do not say whether the owner faced any investigation.
EWN says the truck was heading to Cape Town, aligning with IOL but not with Algoa FM's account that it was carrying dagga from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
Soldiers of 10 South African Infantry Battalion seized 78 kg of dagga valued at R473,000 during Operation CORONA patrols in the Musina area along the Limpopo River. The SANDF said the cannabis was allegedly intended to be smuggled into South Africa.
Police stopped a white Isuzu truck on the N4 near Vandyksdrift on 19 October and found 55 bags of compressed dagga weighing 1,680 kg, which they valued at R12 million. Two men who arrived in a Polo and allegedly offered the officers money were arrested with the driver.
Secunda Flying Squad officers found 103 kg of dagga worth about R800,000 in a Gauteng-registered Honda Civic stopped on the N17 near Leandra on 19 October 2026. The driver abandoned the car and fled on foot; the vehicle and the dagga were seized.
BMA and SAPS officers stopped a white Toyota Hilux with a padlocked canopy at the Baobab Toll Plaza on 18 September 2026 and found 33 bags holding 991.5 kg of dagga worth R1.5 million. The two Tanzanian occupants were arrested for dealing in dagga and due in the Musina court on 21 September.
