Walvis Bay — A suspected drug dealer was arrested last Thursday afternoon in Arandis for being in possession of crack cocaine with a street value of N$50 000.

The Deputy Commissioner of the Namibian police in the Erongo Region, Ottilie Kashuupulwa yesterday confirmed the suspected drug dealer's arrest.

Kashuupulwa yesterday told New Era that the suspect was travelling in a mini-bus from Windhoek to Swakopmund with the drugs at the time of his arrest.

According to Kashuupulwa, Nampol in conjunction with the Narraville neighbourhood watch group made the arrest while conducting a routine operation.

The suspect was allegedly found with 10 bullets of cocaine wrapped in plastic when the police stopped the mini-bus for a routine search. The suspect was expected to appear in the Swakopmund Regional Court on Friday.

His arrest follows shortly after the Namibian Police Regional Commander in the Erongo Region, Commissioner Samuel //Hoebeb declared war on drugs in the region.

During an interview last month with this newspaper //Hoebeb said the new drug squad is stronger than ever after the unit redeployed at least 70 percent of its members who were replaced with other police officers.

He singled out Swakopmund and the Narraville suburb of Walvis Bay as the main problem areas for Nampol in terms of drug smuggling and said Nampol will concentrate more on Swakopmund and Narraville.