Cape Town - A bail application by the alleged kingpin in a drug syndicate was dismissed by the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
Magistrate Mogamad Esau said Stanley Anyaigwe, 41, was a flight risk, and that his release on bail was not in the interests of justice.
Anyaigwe was arrested in May, and faces drug-dealing charges involving “tik” (methamphetamine) worth about R8 million on the street.
If found guilty, he faces a minimum of 15 years in prison, according to the testimony of Hawks' investigating officer Captain Wayne van Tonder.
Esau said the onus had been on Anyaigwe to persuade the court that his release on bail was in the interests of justice, “but he did very little to discharge this onus”.
He said Van Tonder had been adamant that Anyaigwe should not be released on bail, and the investigation had revealed that Anyaigwe had previously left the country - and returned - without a passport.
Esau said a prolonged police investigation had enabled the Hawks to identify Anyaigwe as a member of a syndicate that manufactured and distributed tik countrywide.
The Hawks had wanted to identify the tik laboratory, and close it and the network down.
A police agent infiltrated the syndicate, and introduced himself as “a person with the financial means to obtain and supply the syndicate with ephedrine”.
Ephedine was an ingredient in the manufacture of tik that was not readily obtainable.
Anyaigwe would remain in jail until his next appearance on September 21. - Sapa