Three of the 10 foreign nationals who tried to smokkel cocaine worth over R500 million into Cape Town have been sentenced to a collective 60 years in the Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court.
The Bulgarian drug dealers, who also had their assets worth R46.5m forfeited to the state, were arrested in Saldanha Bay in what has been hailed as the biggest drug bust in the Western Cape and the second largest in the country.
In March the men were busted with 973 bricks of cocaine with an estimated street value of R580 million, which were hidden in three compartments of a vessel anchored at Saldanha Bay harbour.
At the time police arrested four men from Bulgaria and six from Myanmar. The state later withdrew the charges against one Bulgarian man and against the six Myanmar men, who were a crew of the vessel.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila says Mario Radoslavov Vasev, Asen Georgiev and Atanas Mihaylov Bikov were found guilty of drug dealing and entering South Africa illegally using fake documents.
“Vasev was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for dealing in drugs. The court ordered that 13 years be suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted for dealing in drugs. He was sentenced to a year imprisonment for illegally entering South Africa. This sentence will run concurrently with the sentence for drug dealing.
“Ivanov was sentenced to 25 years direct imprisonment for drug dealing. Twelve years were suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted for dealing in drugs. He was sentenced to a year imprisonment which will run concurrently with the sentence handed down for drug dealing.
“Bikov was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted for dealing in drugs. He was sentenced to a year imprisonment for illegally entering South Africa wholly suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted for contravention of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002, committed during the period of suspension. In addition, he paid R2, 5million to the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (CARA) to be used in the fight against crime,” says Ntabazalila.
He says the successful arrest and conviction are the result of a co-operation between the Provincial Organised Crime, the narcotics division, crime intelligence, special task force members, international law enforcement and local police services.
“Last year the police received information about cocaine entering the country via Cape Town harbours. The vessel which had a stash of cocaine, the Windward, was identified and traced to where it was anchored at the Table Bay Harbour.
“It then sailed to Saldanha Bay harbour on January 2021 where it remained while undergoing maintenance. On 25 February 2021, it left the port and underwent a sailing test. It returned the next day. It received a cargo transfer at sea on the evening of 26 February 2021. The vessel returned to the Saldanha Bay harbour in the afternoon of 1 March 2021 and police assisted by members of the Special Task Force, boarded the vessel,” says Ntabazalila.
State prosecutor, Advocate Aradhana Heeramun, welcomed the sentence.
“This is the second largest cocaine seizure in South Africa. It is a clear example of an international organised crime syndicate in operation. The illegal trade in narcotics is a prevalent and serious offence. It has ties to gangsterism and other crime and therefore has a huge negative effect on social economic circumstances of communities as a whole.”