A drug dealer found with 3000 Mandrax tablets inside an apartment in Century City has been sentenced to 48 years in prison but will effectively serve eight years.
Ignettius Ezimorah, 54, was sentenced this week at the Khayelitsha Priority Court after a plea deal on drug dealing and money laundering charges.
Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi, of the Hawks, The Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation said Ezimorah was arrested in December 2023 following a joint operation with the Hawks' South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) and the Special Task Force in an intelligence driven operation in the Milnerton and Goodwood.
“At Matchless Road, Milnerton a Ford Ranger Double Cab bakkie, already forfeited to the state, was discovered and upon search, 3000 Mandrax tablets were found as well as undisclosed amount of cash,” he explained.
A further search at Knight Bridge Luxury Apartments, Century City uncovered more Mandrax, crystal methamphetamine(tik) and an undisclosed amount of cash. "The apartment was classified as a drug lab", Vukubi added.
Ezimorah, was sentenced as follows:
- Count 1: Dealing in Drugs(tik): fifteen years imprisonment of which seven years was suspended.
- Count 2: Dealing in Drugs(Mandrax): fifteen years imprisonment of which seven years was suspended.
- Count 3: Dealing in Drugs(Cocaine): fifteen years imprisonment of which seven years was suspended.
- Count 4: Money Laundering: three years imprisonment.
The court ruled that the sentences for Mandrax, cocaine, and money laundering would run concurrently with the sentence for tik.
"In the end, the accused will serve eight years in direct imprisonment, Vukubi said.
Charges against a second accused were withdrawn.
The Western Cape Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Makgato commended both the investigation and the prosecution teams for the tremendous work in ensuring that the accused faced the full might of the law.
Cape Argus