In a crime prevention operation during the early hours of this morning, members of the Ficksburg Visible Policing Unit intercepted a vehicle and uncovered a cache of illicit goods.
The operation took place at approximately 02:15 on Einde Street, near a filling station, where police pulled over a white Toyota Alphard. A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of a parcel wrapped in brown sticky tape inside the boot.
When questioned, the 39-year-old driver, a foreign national, stated he had been tasked with transporting the parcel from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Maseru, Lesotho.
Upon unwrapping the parcel, officers found four rhino horns, a zip-lock plastic bag containing fifty suspected unpolished diamonds, and one solid gold item stored in a medicine container.
The man was immediately placed under arrest. A case docket for possession of suspected rhino horns, unpolished diamonds, and gold has been opened at the Ficksburg Police Station.
The suspect remains in custody and is expected to appear before the Ficksburg Magistrate’s Court soon.