A youngster from Laudium appeared briefly before the Atteridgeville Magistrates Court this week after being arrested on a charge of drug possession on Monday, June 18.
According to Laudium police, the suspect, Ravi Vengattasamy was arrested by police officers who were conducting a 'stop-n-search' operation on Mustard Street in White Blocks, that Monday morning after the police allegedly found a ‘rock' of crack cocaine in his possession. Ravi was charged and released, but warned to appear in court the next day.
But this did not sit well with White Blocks residents who complained bitterly to the Laudium Sun that the police are not doing enough to tackle the drug problem in their area.
Many told our paper that the police should not just concentrate on the soft targets, the users, but rather focus on arresting the actual suppliers.
One resident, who lives on Mustard Street but begged for anonymity, claimed that drugs were being sold less than 200 metres from the Laudium police station.
“This is really happening and nothing is being done to nab these drug dealers,” the anonymous resident complained.
Another resident alleged that the police were being bribed to protect the drug dealers and were merely targeting the small fries.
Constable Samuel Chokoe of the Laudium police denied this allegation and said that every drug dealer that they knew of was currently being investigated. “We will be making more arrests soon,” Samuel said, adding, “We arrested over 50 people on drug-related charges during the past three months.”
Ravi (23) apparently pleaded guilty in court and walked away after paying an admission of guilt fine of R500, as it was his first offence.
Ravi Vengattasamy (23) pleaded guilty on a charge of drug possession.