Suspected Mitchells Plain drug kingpin Fadwaan “Vet” Murphy and his four co-accused will be facing a whopping 236 charges when their trial begins next year.
Murphy, 43, his ex-wife Shafieka Murphy, 49, his sister Glenda Bird, 46, home owner Dominique Davidson and suspected henchman, Leon Paulsen, 52, appeared at the Khayelitsha Priority Crime yesterday where they faced four charges including money laundering, dealing in drugs and racketeering.
But the group was in for a surprise when prosecutors announced that 232 more charges would be added to their rap sheets when their trial commences on April 3, 2017.
Murphy, who was dressed in a red tracksuit top, was expecting a pre-trial conference yesterday.
Instead they were left shell-shocked when they heard about the hundreds of new charges they would be facing.
These would include all previous cases opened against Vet and the accused dating back to 2014.
All the accused are out on bail.
Magistrate Gary Harmse accepted a new provisional charge sheet with 236 charges, and heard that more could be added, including more money laundering charges, once certain records were obtained.
The four would all be tried under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
The group is yet to enter a plea.
Harmse also requested the State to present the racketeering charges to the Department of Public Prosecutions by January 24, 2017, when pre-trial sessions begin.
The matter has been postponed to November 30 for further investigation.
Murphy arrived at court accompanied by several bodyguards.
He and his sister Glenda were arrested earlier this year after cops linked them to a bust at Davidson’s Lotus River house in September 2015, where R1.1 million in cash and R5 million in tik were confiscated.
Paulsen was arrested in 2014, after cops seized over R380 000 at Murphy’s Lentegeur home.