Alleged underworld kingpin, Nafiz Modack, has accused corrupt cops of konkeling with drug dealers to put him behind bars when he tried to curb drug dealing in Cape Town nightclubs.
Modack, 40, made the statement in an affidavit that was handed in at his bail hearing at the Blue Downs’ Regional Court this week.
He was arrested along with Zane Kilian, Jacques Cronje, Ricardo Morgan, Amaal Jantjies, Jannick Adonis and Sergeant Ashley Tabisher on various charges linked to the murder of Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) commander, Liutentent-Colonel Charl Kinnear.
Modack recounted the events leading up to his dramatic arrest two months ago, saying just days prior, he was granted a hearing at the Western Cape High Court to stop cops from harassing him.
Modack, said to be the head of the “Nafiz Modack Enterprise”, is accused of conspiring to kill Kinnear and his family, as well as criminal lawyer William Booth.
In his affidavit, Modack says in a meeting with the Hawks prior to his arrest, his lawyers were told that he is not a suspect and while the state has now opposed his bail application, claiming he is dangerous, they left him alone for months after Kinnear’s murder.
“My arrest seems somehow to have transformed me from someone who need not urgently be arrested into someone whose very liberty constitutes a threat to society, who requires constant guarding by heavily armed policemen whenever he leaves the confines of prison. I cannot be both,” he stated.
He described himself as a motor vehicle trader who also works as an advisor in the private security sector and says for this reason, he is being targeted.
Modack claims nightclubs in the Western Cape employ bouncers who sell drugs to young patrons and his “no drugs” policy has affected their trade.
“Through my connections in the private security industry, I am able to influence the appointment of bouncers in the nightclubs. I am able to have bouncers who sell drugs fired, or not employed by those nightclub owners who use my services.”
This, he says, has made him “the enemy” of merts who apparently pay police to “protect their interests”.
“Policemen connected to the dealers have been using their powers to harass me and cause me prejudice, attempting thereby to hamper my efforts to bring an end to the drug trade in nightclubs.”
In his affidavit, Modack says he was being unfairly pursued by cops after he was acquitted in a failed extortion trial in 2018.
That case, which was investigated by Kinnear, resulted in Modack, Colin Booysen, Ashley Fields and Jacques Cronje being arrested but the matter was later dismissed and the men freed.
As a result, Modack has lodged a civil claim at the Western Cape High Court against SAPS for unlawful arrest and prosecution.
Modack and his co accused will return to the Blue Downs court today for the continuation of their bail hearings.