How a family ‘ran SA’s biggest dagga empire’
Father and sons ’supplied drugs through the post’
A FAMILY have been accused of running possibly the largest dagga operation in South Africa — less than 10km from a police station and using a postal services company to distribute their wares.
This week the Hawks revealed in startling detail how, they believe, the Brass family from Johannesburg ran an empire worth many millions of rands that spanned the length and breadth of South Africa.
When police finally pounced on the family eight months ago, they confiscated nearly R150-million worth of premium-grade dagga and equipment at six labs.
The family and four of their co-accused have been released on bail. Two other accused are still in custody. None has been asked to plead.
Joe Strauss, from Strauss De Waal Attorneys, who is representing the alleged mastermind, Patrick Brass, said on Friday: “We will plead when we are asked to do so.”
Documents submitted and evidence led during two bail applications describe an intricate web of drug manufacturing and distribution. Police detail how, over three years, the family — who police claim set up hi-tech hydroponic labs, processing farms and an elite marijuana distribution network — allegedly ran an empire stretching from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town and across the border into Swaziland.
The Hawks allege many suppliers received their “shipments” through the post. Last year police intercepted three parcels of dagga at the Tableview PostNet in Cape Town, which weighed between 610g and 765g.
The Hawks said the Brasses diverted cash through eight companies, including a car wash, and bought multiple Johannesburg properties and a fleet of cars worth a total of R11-million.
The man singled out as the godfather of the operation is 59-year-old Patrick Brass. His three sons — Jared, 32; Wade, 30; and Justin, 36 — allegedly acted as his lieutenants.
In 2013 Patrick rented Bona Manzi farm near Hekpoort on BRASSED OFF: Patrick Brass and sons Jared, Wade and Justin, who allegedly ran SA’s biggest hydroponic dagga operation; and Bona Manzi farm, below the North West border — a small farming community near Hartbeespoort Dam — less than 10km from a police station.
Neighbours said he was a ‘‘quiet guy with a great sense of humour”, who kept to himself but was friendly.
‘‘He told us he was manufacturing jewellery. We were never allowed on the farm, the gate was always locked,” said one of the neighbours.
With only 15 police members at the local police station, Gert du Plessis’s Oostermoed Security Services, a private security company, was roped in to tag along with the Hawks when they raided the farm on November 27 last year.
‘‘Nobody knew what was happening there. They were quiet people, we hardly ever saw them. The gate to the farm was locked and we had to break it down,” said Du Plessis.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the investigation began in 2013 when the Brasses were identified as alleged kingpins in the biggest marijuana supply chain in Gauteng.
‘‘This type of cannabis, which takes two to three months to cultivate if conditions are suitable, sells in the range of R60 000 to R95 000 a kilogram,” he said.
‘‘The buyers of this cannabis then resell it for R100 to R300 a gram.”
He said that at the six properties raided, police found dagga and lab equipment to the value of R150-million.
The marijuana was among the most sought-after strains in the province: Cheese, Super Cheese, Kush, Afghan Kush and Milky Way.
Mulaudzi said this A-grade dagga was known for its high levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient that gives users a high.
The Hekpoort farm, where Patrick Brass lived, was isolated.
‘‘There were plants everywhere. Underneath a shaded area, and in the cottage, drying. Lots of it was packed in black bags inside the garage and inside the roof,” said Du Plessis.
“The syndicate made sure that only the family knew the addresses that they used for cultivation and this ensured that detection was impossible,” Mulaudzi said.
After the raid on the farm, police moved on to a second lab, in Bryanston, Sandton, where they found plants worth R47-million and packed products with an estimated street value of R10-million.
Patrick’s ex-wife, Vanessa Brass, and her boyfriend Trevor Oshcroft were arrested at the second property. Oshcroft later died in custody from ulcer complications.
Other properties raided included a nursery near Pelindaba in Pretoria West, with a third lab containing R47-million worth of the product.
Five suspects were arrested there.
Police then moved in on the sons, who were arrested at three separate properties in Douglasdale and Fourways, also in Sandton.
Attorney Peter Jay, who is representing Simango Vilakati, a Swazi national who was arrested later, said: ‘‘According to the evidence led in court, police were tapping their phones for six months. The transcripts are about a metre-and-a-half long.”
The Brass family and six others have been charged with dealing, cultivation and possession of cannabis, moneylaundering and racketeering.
The case has been postponed to August 28 in the Protea Magistrate’s Court to consolidate the case against the accused and determine which court should hear the case.
Police were tapping their phones for six months