CAPE TOWN - A foreign national appeared in the New Law Magistrate’s Court in Gqeberha on Friday after he was arrested on charges of drug trafficking.
The 37-year-old man was arrested by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on Wednesday.
Eastern Cape provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Yolisa Mgoldela said in a statement that the man was arrested by the Gqeberha Serious Organised Crime Investigation (SOCI) team of the Hawks, and the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau in a joint operation with Crime Intelligence Gathering and East London Digital Forensic Investigation.
She said information was received from Crime Intelligence about a discovery of mandrax tablets hidden in parcels sent via a courier service company.
Mgolodela said the information received was that the packets containing drugs were discovered concealed inside speaker boxes that were sent from Gauteng to a recipient in Gqeberha.
“A further five boomboxes for the same recipient were discovered in the delivery which was then held back for a controlled delivery to be done to the recipient which led to his arrest on November 3, 2021. A total of 3 000 mandrax were recovered with a street value of R150 000,” Mgolodela said.
The suspect is expected to bring forth a bail application.
In a separate incident, three drug dealers were sentenced to four life terms each plus 60 years imprisonment in the Mthatha High Court earlier this week.
Siphiwe Jula, 35, Msizi Mncwane, 34, and Zamuxolo Shusha, 25, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for four counts of murder, 20 years each for two counts of attempted murder, and 20 years each for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
After sentencing, the trio filed leave to appeal applications which the prosecutor successfully opposed.
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