Durban - Three of Pietermaritzburg’s alleged cocaine dealers and five of their runners appeared in the city’s magistrate’s court on Monday, charged with multiple counts of dealing and possession of the addictive substance.
Zainath “Shireen” Hutchinson, 56, of Peach Road in Woodlands, Hoosen Mohamed Shaik Cassim, 41, of Mysore Road in Northdale and Deon Gabagas, 41, of Birmingham Road in Eastwood, appeared in the dock alongside their alleged runners, brothers Samson Mackay, 28, and Faybian Mackay, 32, Ramesh Mahabeer, 68, Zahir Buckroodeen, 30, and a former policeman, Sagren “Sauce” Pillay.
The Mackay brothers are Hutchinson’s sons.
Six of the accused were arrested in a simultaneous sting operation in Eastwood, Northdale and Woodlands on the back of a two-year undercover operation by the Mountain Rise police station detectives, Crime Intelligence Unit, the K9 Unit and the Tactical Response Team.
Armed with handguns and assault rifles, the 30-man law-enforcement team raided the homes and alleged drug dens of the accused in the early hours of Friday morning.
Hutchinson has a previous conviction for drug dealing and was on parole in a 20-year sentence when she was arrested on Friday.
Her son, Samson Mackay, also has a previous drug dealing conviction, while her other son, Faybian Mackay, has a pending drug-related case against him. Faybian handed himself over to police on Sunday, after he was told police were looking for him.
Pillay, a former K9 Unit member, was also arrested on Sunday and joined to the charge sheet.
The charges against all the accused reflected in the charge sheet include dealing, or alternatively possession, of either powdered or crack cocaine ranging in amount from 0.59 grams to 12.87 grams bet-ween August and December 2014.
According to police who raided the premises of the accused, they located a “smoke house” behind Hutchinson’s house in Woodlands, where her customers allegedly consumed the cocaine she supplied.
At Cassim’s Northdale house, police allegedly discovered crack pipes commonly used for drug consumption.
The case was adjourned to Monday, March 9, for a formal bail application.
Yuri Gengai, of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Durban, has been assigned to prosecute the matter.
All the accused have secured legal representation which include Anand Pillay and Nasen Naicker.
The courtroom was packed with family and friends of the alleged drug dealers, who approached the media asking that “the truth be revealed”.
They accused the police of “setting up” the accused.
One man, who identified himself as Cassim’s brother, said: “He is not a kingpin. He doesn’t even have furniture, only a television.
“How can he be a drug dealer?”
Daily News