Durban - A 50-year-old man was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for drug dealing, by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on Wednesday.
Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said that on Wednesday, the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court sentenced Brenton Frank, 50, to six years’ direct imprisonment for dealing in drugs.
“Frank was arrested in 2014 for dealing in drugs and was found guilty in 2017. He was sentenced to six years’ direct imprisonment. He appealed the conviction and a re-trial was scheduled.”
Mhlongo added that Frank allegedly played delaying tactics to avoid the set trial dates of September 26 and 27, 2022.
“He then failed to appear before Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court and a warrant of arrest was issued.”
Mhlongo said that on September 29, 2022, the Hawks members from Pietermaritzburg Serious Organised Crime Investigation executed the warrant of arrest and he was remanded in custody until his sentencing on Wednesday.
In a separate incident last year, “The Mercury” reported that two suspected drug dealers were arrested at a residence on Laughton Drive in the Glenashley area of Durban North after a sheriff had gone to the property.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the suspects were found in possession of a substance suspected to be cocaine, pink crystals, six firearms and firearm parts as well a large sum of money.
Netshiunda added that a sheriff had gone to the premises to attach certain items within the property and after he identified himself, the suspects refused to open the gate.
The suspects reportedly started loading bags into a vehicle and on realising that one of the suspects was armed, the sheriff notified the police, who responded swiftly.
During a subsequent search of a vehicle, police found suspected drugs stashed inside a bag, one rifle, two automatic shotguns, two pistols, a home-made pistol, several rounds of ammunition of various calibres, as well as firearms parts. The recovered drugs have an estimated street value of R1 600 000.