Police yesterday began their lockdown for the festive season.
The commanders of the Mitchells Plain Cluster which includes Grassy Park, Athlone, Philippi, Lansdowne and Lentegeur police stations all took part in the massive operation, swooping on gang and drug hotspots in Athlone and Bokmakierie.
In less than two hours, cops arrested eight men and a woman for possession of drugs like mandrax, tik and dagga.
Armed with search warrants, Colonel Mmagauta Letsoalo, the Acting Cluster Commander of Mitchell’s Plain Police, and her team knocked on doors of suspected drug dens and shebeens.
She says: “In this community there have been a lot of complaints of shootings and drugs.
“We want (criminals) to know that we are starting hard, we ... will be targeting houses which have been identified.”
In Vygieskraal, Brigadier Cass Goolam, the station commander of Mitchell’s Plain Police Station demanded permits from a Tanzanian who claimed he was running a tuck shop.
But the man’s papers had expired two years ago and he was placed into a police van.