Turf war ends in bloodshed
|Published
Police moved quickly to disperse a crowd at "Whoonga Park" in Durban after a man was killed in a drug turf battle. Photo: Jacques Naude Police moved quickly to disperse a crowd at "Whoonga Park" in Durban after a man was killed in a drug turf battle. Photo: Jacques Naude
Durban - A turf war between local and foreign drug pedlars ended in a fatal shooting on Sunday when the scourge of “Whoonga Park” resurfaced.
Police surrounded the known Durban drug den after the incident, which left a foreign man dead, to secure the scene and disperse the crowd.
Metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi said an investigation into the shooting was under way, but preliminary reports pointed to a “whoonga territory” dispute.
“A skirmish broke out between two groups that occupy the park. Shots were fired and the fighting continued,” said Msomi.
The slain man had his passport on him when police examined his body, but they declined to name him or reveal his nationality.
When The Mercury got to the crime scene, the body lay on the Leo Boyd Highway bridge near the M4, a white blanket partly covering it.
On the train tracks below the bridge a large crowd argued with police, who had their weapons drawn.
After the crowd eventually dispersed, police cars screeched off, sirens blaring, to Anton Lembede (Smith) Street where another group of alleged “Whoonga Park” users had gathered.
The city has tried to rid the area of drug users in the past by fencing off the park, and efforts have been made to clean it up.
The Mercury