PRETORIA –Five suspects including a detective warrant offficer have been arrested for manufacturing and dealing in drugs.

A joint operation between the Western Cape Hawks and police crime intelligence resulted in the arrests and the seizure of mandrax worth an estimated R105-milion at a smallholding in De Deur, near Vereeniging.

“The area had been monitored for few months on suspicion that a syndicate was involved in the alleged drug lab for distribution countrywide," said Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.

"The suspects, aged between 27 and 59 years, were arrested on Tuesday evening at a smallholding whereas the police officer was arrested at his house in Bassonia [Johannesburg] on Wednesday morning.”

The investigation team recovered methaquolium, pressers, other drug-manufacturing equipment and mandrax tablets already packed and ready for distribution in De Deur, including at one of the police officers’ houses.

The operation was the second major drug bust in 24 hours. The KwaZulu-Natal Hawks confiscated drugs worth R50-milion in a sealed container at the Durban harbour on Monday.

The suspects are expected to appear in the Vereeniging Magistrate&39;s Court on Thursday.