Pretoria - Six suspects, who were found guilty of manufacturing and dealing in drugs, were handed hefty sentences by the Secunda District Court.
The suspects were arrested by the Hawks in Secunda and Crime Intelligence on the 18 August 2016.
Chibuzor Paul Ezekware, Samuel Okafor and Goodwin Addo Abunne were each sentenced to 36 years imprisonment, Henry Ulangu Ukaegby and Innocent Akuziele will spend 16 years in jail each, while Junior Okafor was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
Ezekware, Okafor and Abunne were also ordered to pay R11 500, R4 800 and R7 000 back to the state, respectively.
Ukaegby and Akuziele will pay R2 600 and R1 800 back to the state, respectively.
The seventh suspect’s case will go on trial at the Evander Regional Court on10 May 2017.
The National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza has welcomed the sentence, saying the Hawks do not aim to arrest only but to secure convictions and ensure that justice is served.
“We are clamping down on drugs and all other serious crimes and criminals must be warned that we will send them to jail for a very long time,” said Lieutenant General Ntlemeza on Friday.
Pensioner guilty of theft
Meanwhile, Dick Johannes Hattingh, a 78-year-old pensioner, was found guilty on 12 Counts of theft by the Nelspruit Magistrate Court on Wednesday.
In November 2015, the accused was employed at Lowveld Hunting Club and he stole R527 000 from the Club.
The sentence was postponed for five years on condition that the accused pays back the money on monthly instalments of R3 000 for five years. - SAnews.gov.za
