Police Minister Bheki Cele has lauded the arrest of three Johannesburg men who were caught bringing cocaine worth nearly half a billion rand into the Mother City.
The appearance of Ebrahim Kara, Elia Radebe and Mesheck Mzungzi was attended by Cele and an entourage of heavily-armed cops at Athlone Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The trio were nabbed by the Hawks last week on Jan Smuts Drive where their truck was seized with over 600kg of cocaine.
According to a statement by Hawks spokesperson, Zinzi Hani, the Hawks along with Crime Intelligence and Western Cape Traffic arrested three men who were in possession of a large consignment of cocaine with an estimated value of more than R400 million.
“It is reported that on Thursday the team followed up on information about a truck, suspected to be transporting drugs,” Hani says.
“An operation was organised on the N1 freeway and the truck was spotted at Winelands Engen travelling towards Cape Town.”
She clarified that the actual bust was made on Jan Smuts Drive between Pinelands and Athlone.
“The vehicle was intercepted and a search was conducted wherein a large quantity of drugs was found hidden in false wooden boards at the back of the truck,” she says.
The suspects, who are allegedly from Westdene in Joburg, were represented by top criminal advocate Reuben Liddell who reminded the court that the substance found still needed to be tested to establish whether or not it was in fact cocaine.
He said his clients will plead not guilty and would continue with their bail application.
Liddell also explained that he would address the court at a later stage on the schedule of the crime and would be providing the investigating officer with the information for the bail hearing.
Speaking outside court, a confident Minister Cele said he was happy with the arrest:
“There has been quite good work of the police in terms of prevention and crime intelligence driven.
“We hear the police are reactive but not this time, we are able to be in front of the situation.”