Pretoria – The Secunda Magistrate’s Court has released 62-year-old Natalie Pretorius on R5 000 bail after she was arrested by the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation team based in Secunda for contravening the Medicines and Related Substances Act.
“Pretorius is the owner of the house where Piater Kruger, aged 28, was arrested by the Hawks last week following a search and seizure operation,” said Mpumalanga spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.
“Steroids to the value of R300 000 were confiscated upon Kruger’s arrest. He was released on R5000 bail.”
Meanwhile, Pretorius’s case was postponed to June 10, where she is expected to appear alongside Kruger.
In December, two men charged with dealing in steroids appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, and were granted bail.
Kwavier Hanuman and Marwaan Coetzee were arrested during a multinational operation led by the Hawks for allegedly manufacturing steroids.
The two suspects were arrested in Rondebosch and Crawford respectively.
Hanuman was granted bail of R150 000 and Coetzee of R100 000.
At the time, the court imposed conditions and the men were not allowed to leave the Western Cape without approval of the investigating officer.
According to Hawks provincial spokesperson Zinzi Hani, their South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau team (Saneb) led an integrated intelligence operation, which targeted five addresses.
The operation was centred on a drug investigation that led to the arrest of the two men.
“Other agencies involved were Crime Intelligence Western Cape, Priority Crime Management Centre, Local Criminal Record Centre and their Pretoria counterparts, Saneb and Crime Intelligence Pretoria and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority,” Hani said.
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