Suspect allegedly caught with R5.7m worth of cocaine granted bail

A man found travelling en route to Cape Town from Gauteng with cocaine worth more than R5.7 million allegedly in his possession has been granted bail.

CAPE TOWN, June 7 (ANA) – A man found travelling en route to Cape Town from Gauteng with cocaine worth more than R5.7 million (about US$420,000) allegedly in his possession has been granted bail in the Strand Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

In a statement, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Zinzi Hani said Xolile Skoti, 39, who faces charges of dealing in cocaine, was granted R25,000 (about US$1,800) bail.

She said members of the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) along with Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape intercepted a bakkie en route to Cape Town from Gauteng carrying plastic bags loaded with cocaine.

Hani said the bust was made at a fuel station along the N2 highway at about 6.30pm on Friday, June 4.

According to Hani, officers found 19 bags of raw cocaine wrapped in plastic bags hidden in the vehicle’s back panels.

The drugs were seized and the suspect was arrested immediately.

The case has been postponed until August 31, 2021, for further investigation.

In an unrelated incident, Hani said a suspect involved in a cash-in-transit robbery was sentenced to 15 years’ direct imprisonment on Thursday in the Khayelitsha Priority Court.

She said Sivuyile Mpemnyama, 38, was part of a group of armed suspects who robbed crew members from Qiniseka Security Company in Vredenburg on August 27, 2018.

He was convicted on three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, illegal possession of a firearm and the illegal possession of ammunition.

Mpemnyama and his accomplices fled with R89,000 stuffed in an orange canvas bag.

He was subsequently traced to an informal settlement and the orange canvas bag was recovered.

DNA evidence linked Mpemnyama to the crime.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher