Three more men have been arrested in connection with a R400 million cocaine bust. Rafiek Baderoen, 44, Rashied Baderoen, 48, and Michael Norman, 38, were arrested at a premises in Cape Town on 12 June, as per The Hawks statement.
The bust is linked to the discovery of 800kg of compressed cocaine found in a 12-foot ski boat on the N1 near Centurion earlier this month, reports News24.
The arrested appeared in the Strand Magistrate’s Court on Monday and were later escorted to Pretoria under heavy police guard on Friday afternoon.
In Pretoria, they are expected to appear in court alongside 39-year-old Neil Pieter van Zyl. van Zyl was arrested while towing the ski boat.
“When the team arrived on their premises in Cape Town, they found several people and arrested three suspects. Upon conducting a search, the team seized several cellphones, documentation and passports belonging to the suspects for further investigation,” said Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase.
Details, however, remain incomplete.
It is alleged that the cocaine found earlier in the month belonged to a syndicate that was stockpiling large quantities of the drug in Gauteng and was set for markets both local and abroad.
Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, National Hawks head, welcomed the additional arrests.
“This operation proves that it is only through collaborative effort that we will win the fight against syndicated crimes,” Lebeya said.
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