The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday sentenced Sydney Bilankulu, 56, Courdel Khoza, 30, and Thabo Dikgale, 31, to 10 years and a further five years imprisonment on charges of dealing in drugs, possession of drugs and defeating the ends of justice.
The accused were charged, together with Nigerian national Oscar Osigwe, who was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2017.
He entered into a plea and sentence agreement with the State to testify against his co-accused.
Osigwe arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport in April 2016 from Sao Paulo, Brazil, in possession of 1295,8 grams (89 plastic bullets) of cocaine he had swallowed.
Osigwe told the court that a Nigerian man in Brazil had given him the drugs and bought him a ticket to South Africa.
He further told the court that the Nigerian man said that there would be people at the airport who would be waiting for him and that his identity was already shared with these people.
On arrival, while he was waiting in the queue, he was told to stand aside by two Sars customs officials (Khoza and Dikgale). While searching for him, he was informed by Dikgale that they had been waiting for him. They, thereafter, went with Osigwe to a hotel, where his SIM card was replaced with a new one that would be used to communicate with him after he had excreted the drugs. They gave him instructions on where to drop off the bag with drugs after the excretion was completed.
While on duty, Sergeant Nathan Govender from the South African Police Service stationed at ORTIA, received an anonymous tip-off about a man from Sao Paulo with cocaine balls he had swallowed.
He gathered a team that went to the hotel where Osigwe had checked in. On arrival, they questioned Osigwe, who agreed that he had excreted 71 of the drugs, and 18 were still inside his stomach.
Osigwe received a call from the accused to move to the drop-off point, where he was followed by the team. He handed the bag of cocaine to Bilankulu, who was with Dikgale and Khoza, and they were all arrested.
In arguing for a harsh sentence, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Jacob Serepo, argued that the accused abused their authority as law enforcement officers. They had acted dishonestly.
The accused facilitated the importation of drugs, whereas their mandate as law enforcement officers was to curb the scourge of drug dealing.
“The NPA applauds the work of Advocate Jacob Serepo and Investigating Officer Captain Polley for ensuring that these drug traffickers are removed from society,” said NPA Regional spokesperson Gauteng Local Division Phindi Mjonondwane.
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