Sipho Masombuka

Sipho Masombuka

A special police team of narcotics investigators has been assembled to crush drug dealers targeting school children in Mamelodi, Tshwane.

A spokesman for the Mamelodi West police, Captain Mahlahlane Maheso, said the police had received a tip-off that Nigerian drug dealers were plying their trade next to a primary school.

Maheso said the drug dealers use foreign names for heroin and "crack" to make the young addicts believe they are into something new.

"Heroin is called nyaope and Mandrax is letlapa," said Maheso.

He said the strategy was to fool school pupils into believing they were using less harmful drugs.

"In our drug awareness campaigns we warn students about the dangers of using drugs. We also show them what the drugs look like," he said.

"These drug dealers are counteracting our campaigns by giving drugs different names and changing their appearance."

Maoto Matjie, a teacher at Vlaakfontein Technical High School in Mamelodi East, confirmed that schools in the area were facing a drug crisis.

"The situation is out of control," Matjie said.