Drug leader accused stays in jail
The Grahamstown High Court has ruled that alleged drug kingpin Kingsley Obi Udeobi, arrested last year with 105kg of drugs worth R70m at his Belgravia flat in East London, be kept in jail and not be given bail until the completion of his trial.
Udeobi, 31, is also alleged to be linked to a drug manufacturing lab discovered at a rented house in an affluent Vincent Heights suburb in October 2017.
He was arrested on November 1 at his flat, after the Hawks’ narcotics enforcement bureau pounced and discovered the large haul of drugs, including crystal meth (tik), in his silver VW Amarok.
He was denied bail twice by the East London Magistrate’s Court late last year, but later appealed the decision in the Grahamstown High Court.
Passing judgment recently, Judge Clive Plasket said the East London magistrate, in Udeobi’s first bail application, refused bail principally because of the strength of state’s case and the seriousness of the offence.
“In addition, she took into account [Udeobi’s] questionable status as an asylum seeker, his links with a person accused of drug dealing who had fled despite having been released on bail, and his lack of assets in East London. These factors, all combined, in her view, impelled a conclusion that there was a likelihood of the appellant evading justice and not standing trial.”
Plasket said that after he was denied bail by the first magistrate, Udeobi re-applied days later, saying he had new facts.
However, that re-application was denied, paving the way for him to resort to the high court.
Plasket agreed with the magistrate who heard the second bail application, who found that the new facts made no difference to the outcome.
Plasket said the investigating officer, Captain Raymond Buys, testified that, by coincidence, a security company stumbled upon a drug factory in Vincent Heights and, as a result, contacted the estate agent who had let the premises, who in turn contacted the lessee.
Buys told the court the lessee arrived together with Udeobi, who was later identified by the estate agent as one of the people who occupied the rented house.
When he was told police were on their way, he and the lessee left.
The police found substances used for drug manufacturing.
A few days later, Udeobi’s flat was raided and R70m worth of drugs were found in his car and garage.
Odeobi’s defence lawyer argued that his flat and vehicle were raided without a search warrant, and that all evidence was unlawfully obtained and would be inadmissible during trial.
In his judgment Plasket said the trial court has a discretion to admit such evidence.