FIVE men and two women were arrested after thousands of ARVs tablets were found in their possession.
The HIV tablets to the value of R1,9 million were allegedly going to be sold in Welkom when the seven suspects were arrested in Kroonstad on Saturday.
But the pills never reached their destination as the cops managed to catch the suspects and their car.
The group will be facing a charge of Contravention of the Medicine Act when they appear in court soon.
Police spokesman Brigadier Motantsi said a Chevrolet Cruz which was allegedly used in the commission of a crime was also confiscated by the police.
Makhele told Daily Sun: “On Saturday, information was received regarding suspects who were coming from Gauteng to Kroonstad. They were in possession of ARV tablets with the aim of selling them to a potential buyer from Welkom.
“An intelligence driven operation was conducted in conjunction with Illicit Mining task team which led to the arrest of seven suspects in Kroonstad. They were found in possession of 1 272 containers of ARV tablets with an estimated value of R1 908 000. The tablets and a Chevrolet Cruz were confiscated.
Four suspects are from Sebokeng in Vereeniging, one is a Lesotho citizen staying in Welkom, one is from Phuthaditjhaba and the other one from Theunissen, Free State. All the suspects, five men and two women, are aged between 31 and 39. They will appear in the Kroonstad Magistrates Court soon.”
Free State Health spokesman Mondli Mvambi said: “The Free State Department of Health applauds the good work of the police in tracing and apprehending those who contravene the law, placing the lives of the community at risk and interfering with the distribution of sensitive medicines. Criminal elements are always placing an added burden on health systems management because they defraud the system of vital resources, and the system ends up having to budget twice for the goods and services that are already budgeted but never reach the intended beneficiaries. Instead of health centre’s being enabled to widen the reach of health budgets to lower the effects of the burdens of disease, we end up being restricted to managing the effects that the work of criminals which nullifies the good work that health facilities do.
“We encourage many more whistle blowers to come forward and provide any information they have about any acts of criminality.
We would also like to take this opportunity and discourage our officials and the public from enabling the work of criminals. Please don’t buy stolen goods. Don’t buy stolen medications because they can kill you, and don’t buy the non-existent jobs that criminals are promising you. We don’t sell jobs and health care in South Africa is free as it is already paid for by the state.”
