Five people were arrested in Milnerton near Cape Town on Thursday for growing potent dagga to export to the United Kingdom and Europe, the SAPS Crime Intelligence and Interpol division said.

Superintendent Tummi Golding said three men and two women were arrested in two separate laboratories in Milnerton around 3.15pm on Thursday and approximately R60 000 worth of dagga was confiscated.

The laboratories were used to cultivate dagga which would then be harvested, compressed and exported to the UK and Europe.

The seeds to grow the dagga were imported from the UK.

A couple aged in their 40s and a 23-year-old woman were arrested in one laboratory and two men, aged 22 and 23, were arrested in the other.

The people knew each other and the two laboratories were operating together, said Golding.

The five people would appear before the Bellville South Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of drug trafficking.

The modus operandi of the intelligence driven operation could not be revealed because it might hamper investigations overseas, Golding said.

Sapa