The case of drug possession and drug dealing against 48-year-old Nigerian national, Theophilus Ejiofor was postponed to Monday for formal bail application.
Ejiofor and his co-accused, 33-year-old South African woman Kgomotso Pholoholo were nabbed on Wednesday by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks, in collaboration with the North West provincial drug task team and Lichtenburg K9 unit.
Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks in North West said Pholoholo was granted R1,000 bail.
Meanwhile, 28-year-old South African woman, Violet Magqoki, believed to be Ejiofor’s girlfriend, was also granted R1,000 bail by the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Magqoki faces a charge of corruption after he offered police a bribe to release Ejiofor.
Her matter was also postponed to Monday for further investigation.
On Friday, Mathebula said Ejiofor and Pholoholo were arrested in Lichtenburg following information received about a Nigerian man who was allegedly selling drugs in the area.
“An undercover operation was conducted, which led to the arrest of the pair soon after selling drugs valued at R40,000. [Around] 649 mandrax tablets, 40 packets of crystal meth and transparent plastic containing CAT drugs were seized,” said Mathebula.
“A search was conducted at the Nigerian man's house where crystal meth with an estimated street value of R15,000 and CAT drugs valued at R6,000 were confiscated.”
Mathebula said when police officers were processing the suspects – the Nigerian man and 33-year-old South African woman (Pholoholo), and a 28-year-old South African woman (Magqoki), alleged to be the Nigerian suspect’s girlfriend, attempted to bribe the police in a bid to secure her boyfriend’s release.
“She was subsequently arrested and charged with corruption,” said Mathebula.
Earlier this month, IOL reported that three Mozambican nationals were arrested in Joburg for possession of drugs.
Gauteng spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Lloyd Ramovha, said the law enforcement agencies seized a “substantial” quantity of illicit drugs.
“The Gauteng Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation undertook an operation targeting drug trafficking activities in the region on Monday, December 2, 2024, in the Cleveland policing precinct,” said Ramovha.
“This was a result of a coordinated effort by the Johannesburg serious organised crime investigation, South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau, and the Trafficking in Persons unit.”
The operation led to the arrest of three individuals - Alexandre Alberto Chissano, 62, Raul Silvadore Homo, 51, and Antonio Lisboa, 33, who are all Mozambican nationals, and the seizure of the substantial quantity of illicit drugs.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
IOL