A Magaliesburg farmer was arrested on Wednesday after police found his greenhouse full of dagga plants guarded by a snake in a glass cage.
West Rand police spokesperson Captain Paula Nothnagel said the 37-year-old farmer did not have a permit for his snake.
Nothnagel said the dagga was farmed and dried in greenhouses on the farm.
”There was a special room for drying the dagga. The room had lines of ropes where the dagga was being hanged. The one greenhouse with the fully matured dagga plants was guarded by an indigenous snake in a glass cage.”
Nothnagel said the farmer will appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of illegal possession of dagga and keeping a snake without a permit.
The snake will be taken to the Hartbeespoort Dam Snake Park for safekeeping and rehabilitation. It will later be released into the wild.
Nothnagel said 50kg of dried dagga and 150 dagga plants were found. — Sapa