A major drug bust at a hijacked Houghton property is only one piece of a sprawling criminal syndicate operating across Johannesburg and targeting abandoned or unoccupied homes in wealthy suburbs.
This is according to Alex Mandlakazi, media liaison officer for the citys public safety MMC, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, who told Sowetan that the R2m raid in Houghton on Saturday forms part of a wider, decentralised drug network using hijacked properties as storage, processing and distribution hubs.
Just last month, there was a dagga bust worth R1m in Linbro Park. Before that, cocaine worth almost R20m was found in an isolated property in Midrand, Mandlakazi said.