Police have embarked on a crackdown to raid streets of drug peddlers in an operation that has netted more than two dozen people so far.
Many dealers sell drugs such as cocaine and marijuana alongside the streets, there they even stupefy people by selling the corn chips, fruits and vegetables. The police went over and arrested 24 street vendors and the 22 of them have appeared before the Magistrate court in Maseru.
They are charged with the illegal possessions of drugs after allergically being found with the stock of marijuana last week. The other two were found in possession of suspected cocaine. According to the POLICE the cocaine is taken to the lab to be tested.
The street vendors at the Moshoeshioe 1 Statue were allergically found pretending to be selling the displayed fruits on their tables and allegedly stashed the drugs under the tables or in their bags. The other one are found on the Kingsway street displaying the beautiful winter clothes and shoes along the road, they seemed to be pretending selling such the goodies.
The police source said some hair saloons could also be selling drugs with the hair business being in front displayed.
“there are many such businesses and we have discovered that some are serious distributors of the drugs” source said.
Deputy police spokesperson Sub-Inspector ‘Mareabetsoe Mofoka said their investigations have revealed that drugs are bought from the street vendors who sell the drugs in small quantities. She also said more work needs to be done to unearth people who supply the street vendors with the drugs.
The maximum sentence that has been handed down to those convicted under the drug abuse act during the ongoing crackdown is M10 000 fine or five years in jail, while the lowest sentence has been a M500 fine.