Drug dealer bust with R400m cocaine gets eight years in jail

A drug dealer caught with over R400m worth of cocaine has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, seven of which were suspended, and has forfeited R2m to the state.

The Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court in Cape Town, Western Cape, on Wednesday sentenced Ebrahim Kara to an effective eight years imprisonment. 

National Prosecuting Authority provincial spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said Kara was the third accused in the case as two others entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the state on October 6. 

“Kara, Elias Radebe and Meshack Mzungezi Ngobese were arrested after they were found with the cocaine haul. Radebe was sentenced to an effective one year of imprisonment while Ngobese was sentenced to six years of direct imprisonment,” said Ntabazalila. 

Ntabazalila said in Ngobese’s plea and sentencing agreement, “he confessed to supplying Radebe with a truck to drive to Gauteng to collect the drugs and return them to Cape Town".

"After the truck was loaded with the drugs in Gauteng, Radebe collected Ngobese...

“They both drove down to Cape Town with the drugs packed into a crate. On August 4 2022, they handed the truck over to Kara at N1 City, Goodwood. They remained at N1 City, while he drove away in the direction of Athlone,” said Ntabazalila. 

He said Kara had confessed to being stopped by the police while in Athlone and asked for his permission to search the vehicle. 

“Radebe and Ngobese were also arrested and all three men were present when the police searched the truck and found the 672 bricks of cocaine concealed inside pine sheets,” said Ntabazalila. 

Kara was further ordered by the court to surrender the 672 bricks of cocaine which were found in a truck that he was driving, to the state. 

“Senior state Adv Peter-John Damon told the court that the seized cocaine was not for their consumption but for the commercial purpose of exporting and selling. He said the substance was highly addictive to both physical and mental health, and the Khayelitsha Priority Crimes Court has a high frequency of offences of drug dealing,” said Ntabazalila.

mashalek@sowetan.co.za