At around 8 pm on Sunday night, 15 March 2026, SARS and the Border Management Authority bust a truck at Oshoek border post, allegedly carrying 50 large bags of cannabis and 916 illicit tyres in a trailer. The BMA said the bags weighed 671.5kg and an estimated street value of R2.8 million.
“All confiscated items, including the dagga and illicit tyres, were registered with Saps for evidentiary purposes, while Sars has seized the truck as part of ongoing investigations. A criminal case has been formally opened,” the BMA said in a statement to The Citizen.
Across the border, the Umbutfo eSwatini Defence Force has been ramping up foot patrols, particularly along the KZN border to support the Royal Swazi Police.
According to the Ministry of Defence and National Security, the UEDF confiscated 2 266 kgs of cannabis in the last quarter of 2025.
“Dagga smuggling remains one of the major cross-border crimes affecting Eswatini, with traffickers exploiting porous sections of the border to transport the substance into neighbouring South Africa, where it fetches a higher market price” said the Ministry in a statement last year.
According to a South African ‘Grey Zone’ retailer in Gauteng, cheap eSwatini cannabis has been available for years. “They have established distribution networks and one can get a consistent supply for R3 – R5/gram depending on volume. They say that’s three times the price they’d get back home and there’s plenty of margin there for retailers to offer it as a ‘budget range’. It’s fair to say that Swazi weed owns a chunk of the low end of the Gauteng market” he said.
The UEDF says there is cross border cannabis smuggling happens on a daily basis.
“Dagga smuggling refuses to slow down along the country’s borders. But neither do UEDF troops, who continue sweeping through the boundary lines in a relentless effort to curb the illicit trade” said the Ministry.
In the latest seizure on 4 March 2026, UEDF soldiers stopped a white Isuzu at Sivule in the Lubombo region and “discovered six bags of dagga weighing 160kg, with an estimated street value of E160,000.” The suspect alongside his vehicle and the consignment were handed over to law enforcement authorities for further investigation.
Meanwhile the the Royal Eswatini Police Service continue their own crackdown on ‘dagga trafficking’ in the country. It released stats from the last week of January 2026 in which over 10 people were arrested and charged on cannabis offences:
· Siteki #police arrested and charged three men aged 34,27 and 20 of Lugongolweni and Sitsatsaweni for being found in possession of dagga weighing 119.04 kg without licence or a permit while at Lugongolweni on 21 January, 2026;
· Lavumisa #police arrested and charged three men aged 40,34 and 21 years of Bhambanana and Ncandweni for being found in possession of dagga weighing 31.8 kg hidden inside three different bags while travelling in a Soyat LDV at Nsubane area on 20 January, 2026.
· A 43 year old man and a 35 year old woman of Siphofaneni were arrested and charged on 24 January, 2026 at about 0130 hours by Lavumisa #police. They were found in possession of four(4) rolls of dagga hidden in the back seat of the BMW car they were traveling in, while at Mlindazwe along MR 11 public road;
· On the same day Hluthi police arrested and charged three men aged 49,37 and 25 years of Somntongo and Gonco for being found in possession of dagga weighing 36.2kg inside a Toyota venture without a licence or permit while at Nkuntjini.
· While on 21 January, 2026 at about 2050 hours four men aged 35,35,30 and 28 of Magele, RSA and Lesotho were arrested and charged for being found in possession of dagga weighing 28.35 kg without a licence or permit while on board a BMW at Sivule area.
#
