{"id":35676,"date":"2026-05-28T09:43:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35676"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:07:06","slug":"three-people-nabbed-nearly-61-mln-worth-of-drugs-seized-at-beitbridge-border","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/three-people-nabbed-nearly-61-mln-worth-of-drugs-seized-at-beitbridge-border\/","title":{"rendered":"BMA intercepts nearly $61 drug shipment at Beitbridge, the SA-Zimbabwe border post"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Border Management Authority (BMA) in South Africa (SA) says it has arrested three people after intercepting a drug consignment worth nearly R1 billion ($61 million) at the Beitbridge border post between SA and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities say a truck entering SA from Malawi was flagged after scanners detected suspicious cargo.<\/p>\n<p>A lengthy search uncovered about 713 000 grams of an ingredient commonly used in the production of mandrax.<\/p>\n<p>Investigations are underway into the destination of the drugs.<\/p>\n<p>BMA Commissioner Dr. Michael Masiapato says the interception demonstrates the effectiveness of intelligence-led border security operations and the importance of integrated collaboration among law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Masiapato says, \u201cThis interception sends a strong message that SA\u2019s borders are not a safe passage for organised criminal activities. The BMA remains committed to strengthening border security, combating transnational crime, and protecting the country from illicit activities that threaten our communities and economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014SABC\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14045,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-35676","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Authorities say a truck entering SA from Malawi was flagged after scanners detected suspicious cargo.","published_date":"","news_description":"Authorities say a truck entering SA from Malawi was flagged after scanners detected suspicious cargo.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35685,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35676\/revisions\/35685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}