Two men and two women were arrested at a massive clandestine drug laboratory in Springfield park just outside the Durban CBD.

The four were working on a machine producing capsules suspected to contain heroin. A search was conducted on the premises which led to several discoveries.

• Thousands of kilograms of Methaqualone powder, which is generally used to produce Mandrax.
• 1 tablet press machine
• 60 dyes
• 10 000 Mandrax tablets
• 40 000 empty capsules

The above goods had an estimated value of over R50 million.

The bust led police to another house where three more suspects were arrested.

All seven will appear in court on Monday.

Meanwhile, six people are expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate's court for alleged drug dealing after police confiscated drugs worth an estimated R10 million over the weekend.

Gauteng police spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo, said investigators searched six houses in Edenvale and Kempton Park in Ekurhuleni where the drugs were found.

At the first house in Edenvale, a 33-year-old male believed to be the main suspect was arrested on Saturday while three other men were picked up at other houses.

Masondo says further investigation led police to three more houses in Kempton Park where a 30-year-old woman, believed to be the wife of the main suspect, was arrested.

A second female suspect aged 27 was also arrested in a house in Kempton Park where more drugs were seized.

Police believe the house is utilised for storage and sales. Cash and drugs in both raw and processed form worth a combined estimated value of over R10 million were seized.

In another drug bust over the weekend, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, arrested four men at a house allegedly used as a laboratory to manufacture Mandrax in Braamfischerville, Soweto. Investigators swooped on the house seizing chemicals, equipment and a large amount of Mandrax tablets estimated to be worth millions of rand.

The men aged between 35 and 59 are expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court on charges of manufacturing and dealing in drugs.

Algoa FM/African News Agency