Ex-smuggler turns the tables
KNYSNA – A Port Elizabeth marine engineer who spent 14 years in a US federal prison on a cocaine smuggling conviction told the Circuit Court in Knysna yesterday that he was sent to Cape Town to assess the seaworthiness of a boat which was later seized by police with 1.7 tons of pure cocaine aboard.
Oliver Thomas was testifying for the prosecution in the trial of six men accused in SA’S biggest cocaine bust.
They are Chinese nationals Xing Cuo Chen, 57, Zhi Zhong Liu, 51, and Yu Wei Yau, 30, Cape Town marine engineers Beverley Jones, 47, and Magamat Adams, 41, and Shaun Packareysammy, 43, of Port Elizabeth.
The trial resumed yesterday following a three-month break.
All six accused have pleaded not guilty to dealing in or possession of 1 716kg of cocaine found on December 10, 2010, aboard the Toledo cabin cruiser which was moored outside an upmarket flat at the Knysna waterfront.
The bust more than quadrupled the previous record cocaine haul in SA.
Oliver Thomas, 66, said that he was contacted by Packareysammy after telling a work colleague about his conviction in the US for conspiracy to smuggle 260kg of cocaine found aboard a boat he was skippering.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why these people contacted me,” Thomas said, referring to the six accused.
He said Packareysammy “knew about the coke charge against me… He said he heard I had done time in the US for cocaine”.
Packareysammy also asked about cocaine smuggling in general, such as how much the drug cost in Colombia and how much it could be sold for on the streets.
He said he got the shock of his life when he heard about the record cocaine haul found aboard the Toledo. “I did 14 years in prison and somehow this thing had come back to haunt me again.”
Thomas said Packareysammy wanted him to move the Toledo from Cape Town to Knysna and on two occasions took him from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town in 2010 to establish the seaworthiness of the boat in Hout Bay harbour.
Packareysammy did not say what the boat was for, but Thomas said he suspected it had something to do with abalone smuggling.
“I told him I would not get involved in anything illegal. I didn’t want to skipper the boat if it was to be used for smuggling contraband. Fourteen years (in prison) was enough for me.”
On the trips to Cape Town he met Chinese associates of Packareysammy who police later said were in Knysna at the time of the massive cocaine bust but who fled the country in considerable haste after the incident.
Thomas said it was clear that Packareysammy did not have the money to purchase the boat, but he “knew there was someone with money involved… Shaun made it plain that he had a sponsor”.
He said Packareysammy had asked about the carrying capacity of the Toledo and its ability to travel long distances.
“Shaun wanted to know if the vessel could reach the international water line 321.8km from shore. It had to be capable.”
The prosecution has submitted that the cocaine was loaded onto the Toledo from a passing ship when the boat left Knysna lagoon for the open sea between December 5 and December 10, 2010.
Thomas admitted that he had parted with Packareysammy on bad terms after he was not given the contract to renovate the boat or to move it to Knysna, and because he was only paid R2 000 for all the he time spent surveying the vessel.
“The last time I spoke to him I told him I knew where he lived and that I would collect the money he owed me,” Thomas said.
Thomas denied his testimony for the prosecution was an act of revenge.
Today, Johan van den Berg of Boats 4 Africa in Cape Town will testify in court regarding the sale of the Toledo to the alleged cocaine smugglers for about R750 000.