Durban - As Mobi-Claw 911 operations director Wynand Laatz looked out of his control-room window in Westville, he spotted what appeared to be drug deals taking place on Thursday.
Mobi-Claw spokesperson Mike Myers said the control-room window overlooked the Westville CBD.
Myers said Laatz had noticed suspicious activity and as he had continued to observe the situation he had realised there appeared to be drug deals taking place on a grassy patch bordering the M13.
He said the control room reported the incident to the SAPS and local crime-fighting volunteers.
“A co-ordinated joint operation followed whereby members of Mobi-Claw, the SAPS and volunteer crime-fighters took up strategic covert positions while our control room relayed minute-by-minute information via our radio network,” he said.
Myers said the team knew the dealer and buyers would scatter at the first sight of any policing activity, and they had wanted to ensure the dealer could not escape.
He said the timing of the arrest had been critical, and once they had seen the dealer walking under the M13 bridge, the decision had been made to move in, as he would not have been able to escape when he was in this location.
“Wynand together with volunteers boxed him in under the bridge and detained him. Moments later, the SAPS arrived and conducted a search of the suspect. In his possession were a number of capsules believed to be heroin and a wad of cash,” said Myers.
According to Myers, the SAPS arrested the man and he was taken to Westville police station for processing.
“The suspect is also a Westville resident,” he said.
He added that a number of vagrants that had been on the same grassy patch had been searched and warned about drinking in public.
“They were made to clean up the area before being dispersed,” said Myers.
