Forensic technology from South Africa has been used to get to the bottom of what was smoked in tobacco pipes in William Shakespeare's garden in the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Britain's Independent newspaper reported that residue from clay tobacco pipes more than 400 years old, found in his garden, was analysed in Pretoria using a technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Chemicals from the pipe bowls and stems showed that, although many people in the 17th century smoked coca leaves the raw material of cocaine those in Shakespeare's garden weren't used to smoke these. However, four of the pipes were used to smoke dagga. [continues 58 words]
Durban - South Africa's education system has been blamed for school violence that has left one pupil dead and another with multiple skull fractures. A sense of spirituality and humanity was lacking in South Africa's educational system, said a Durban-based anti-drug forum on Wednesday. Teachers lacked empathy. The educational system needed to stop churning out workers, said forum chairperson Sam Pillay. A 16-year-old boy died when he was taken off life-support machines after being injured in a fist-fight on the South Coast on Saturday. [continues 253 words]
Dakar - Lax law enforcement, a strategic location and an inexhaustible supply of couriers have made West Africa an emerging transit point for South American and home grown cartels shipping drugs to Europe and beyond, say United Nations officials. By building up a web of offshore drop sites and willing mules, both the Latin American cartels and smaller West African criminal networks have smuggled millions of dollars in cocaine, cannabis and heroin through the region over the last decade, the UN Office of Drug Control (Unodc) said in a new report. [continues 404 words]
BOGOTA, Colombia - President Alvaro Uribe vowed to press ahead with US-financed fumigation of cocaine-producing crops, even as a new White House report showed that a massive aerial spraying offensive last year failed to dent the area of coca under cultivation in Colombia. Critics say the report indicates the Colombian and US governments are losing the war on drugs, which has cost more than $3bn in US aid here since 2000. "The US government's own data provides stark evidence that the drug war is failing to achieve its most basic objectives," John Walsh, of the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank critical of US drug policies in Colombia, said on Friday. [continues 374 words]
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- A Dutch magazine was including an unusual freebie with its latest issue - two marijuana seeds in a small plastic bag. Nieuwe Revu Editor-in-Chief Mark Koster said the move was a publicity stunt accompanying the January 26 issue, which advocates legalising marijuana and other banned substances. Although Holland is famous for tolerating the sale of small amounts of marijuana and hashish in coffee shops, both are technically illegal and the government prosecutes possession of more than several grams. [continues 85 words]
DRESDEN -- Police in Germany staged a pre-dawn raid on a suspected drug dealer on Saturday, wrecking his furnishings and shooting his two dogs - only to find out they had raided a fellow police officer's home by mistake. His blood-spattered apartment a shambles, the policeman informed his colleagues that the suspect resided in the flat above his. The officers then went upstairs where the next raid also failed to turn up any illicit drugs or weapons, shame-faced police said Saturday. [end]
Pretoria - A new rehabilitation centre for alcoholics and drug addicts will be built in the Northern Cape soon. The centre will fill the gap left by the Noupoort Christian Care Centre, which will be forced to close its doors soon. Celine Morolong of the department of social development in the Northern Cape said the planning of the new centre was still in its infant stages. She was reluctant to confirm rumours that the centre would be situated outside Kimberley. "The centre will be built in a central part of the province," she said. [continues 200 words]
RIYADH - Three Pakistanis were executed by the sword in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Friday after being convicted of drug trafficking, Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said. Elias Ahmad Bashir was convicted of attempting to smuggle heroin into the kingdom while compatriots Dawai Khan Bashir and Mohammad Zaher Khan were found guilty of receiving the drugs, said a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. The executions takes to 28 the number of beheadings announced by Saudi authorities so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements. [continues 52 words]
Johannesburg - Engelezi Mngomezulu was born poor in rural Mpumalanga. But this week, when police raided his houses and attached property, it was the coming down of a very rich man. From a young boy in deep rural Daggakraal to the alleged Sandton multimillion-rand drug kingpin with international links, Mngomezulu's transformation was complete. His major undoing was simple though: impulsive spending, combined with greed. This former Soweto taxi driver could spend big: numerous houses in plush suburbs, mostly bought in sets of three for his three kids; children in the same Swiss school as the Swiss president's children; and a travel bill for him and his wife that ran up to R370 000 in just over a year. [continues 449 words]
LANGA township, just outside Cape Town, came to a standstill yesterday as thousands flocked to a small stadium yesterday to bid goodbye to South Africa's queen of pop, Brenda Fassie. What was otherwise a beautiful funeral service was spoilt by sporadic incidents of pushing and shoving. There was confusion initially over the entrance of VIPs, family and media representatives. Many had to push their way in as security officials refused them entry, failing to recognise the wristbands provided by family representatives as accreditation. [continues 321 words]
