Manhunt for EL drug kingpin
Cop tells court of R200 000 bounty on his head
EAST LONDON’S suspected drug kingpin, James Ifenatuora, 45, is on the run. He was last seen in an East London courtroom successfully pleading for bail of R200 000, but he has skipped bail, it was heard in court recently.
While the cops are searching for Ifenatuora, more startling evidence was led in the East London Magi Court yesterday, which suggests that police believe he is the city’s major druglord and the link in a series of three major busts in East London’s suburbs, including one in a smart home in upmarket Vincent Heights that was turned into a laboratory for manufacturing vast quantities of tik.
Tik, or chrystal methamphetamine, is one of the most destructive and addictive drugs known, and it is sold from cities to deep rural areas throughout South Africa.
It has been blamed for some of the most horrific crimes, often against children, including cannibalism.
Since September 22, Hawks narcotics detectives have made three home busts, netting tik and cocaine with a street value of over R70-million.
● Details in court have also shown that air conditioners and fans used in the manufacturing process were purchased from a well-known East London business.
In a moment of high courtroom drama yesterday, it emerged that a bounty of R200 000 has been placed on the head of the detective leading the hunt for Ifenatuora, Captain Raymond Buys.
Buys was testifying in the bail application of 31-year-old meth (tik) cook Kingsley Obi Udeobi, who was described as a runner for Ifenatuora.
Udeobi was arrested by members of the Hawks Drug Enforcement Bureau on Sunday, October 29, allegedly in possession of a massive 105kg of tik in a flat in Belgravia, central East London.
This was the biggest drug haul in the history of the Eastern Cape, police said.
Captain Buys yesterday said during testimony before magistrate Robin Tyler that Udeobi was linked to James Ifenatuora.
Buys said Ifenatuora was arrested in September inside a Sohco flat in Amalinda, East London, in possession of tik and cocaine valued at R2million.
Ifenatuora, R200 000 bail, having did not posted pitch for his his