Bust nets R1m, drugs – and machines for fraud
Captain Radian Baloyi hold some tablets which cops are still to determine what they are. The cops raided a house in Lonehill Gardens near Fourways and found money and drugs and a Bulgarian national residing in the house was arrested. 150312 Picture: Boxer Ngwenya Captain Radian Baloyi hold some tablets which cops are still to determine what they are. The cops raided a house in Lonehill Gardens near Fourways and found money and drugs and a Bulgarian national residing in the house was arrested. 150312 Picture: Boxer Ngwenya
A banking fraud investigation has blown the lid on a massive drug-manufacturing operation in a room in Lonehill, Sandton.
On Thursday, a Hawks-led raid of six houses in Joburg’s northern suburbs unearthed large amounts of cocaine hidden in a kitchen cupboard and a suitcase full of ephedrine – a chemical used to manufacture cat and tik.
Bundled banknotes totalling about R1 million, which had been stashed in a corridor cupboard and an apple box, were seized by the SA Revenue Service’s forfeiture unit.
Officials also found a bag full of cellphones and cameras in the house while more chemicals and unidentified pills in a “drug lab” were discovered in a back room.
A money-counting machine, bank-card-skimming devices and an encoder were also confiscated. Criminals attach a skimming device to ATMs or card machines that reads and copies a person’s banking details and PIN. An encoder is used to convert the information obtained, through the skimming device, onto falsified cards.
Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said a 42-year-old Bulgarian man, who was in possession of five different passports, was arrested for dealing and manufacturing drugs. The man, who owns a gym and restaurant, allegedly claimed he was manufacturing fat burners and steroids.
The raids took place simultaneously at about 8.30am on Thursday. They followed a request from French law enforcement agencies to assist in a credit card scam that formed part of a five-year investigation.
All six houses were linked to Bulgarian nationals believed to be part of a banking fraud syndicate.
Four female illegal immigrants were also arrested at one of the premises – an alleged brothel. The women worked at Mix X restaurant, the same restaurant owned by the man arrested at the Lonehill house.
The man will appear in the Johannesburg Commercial Crime Court on Monday.
Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay said the man had also been charged with contravention of customs and excise legislation.
Polela said the nationality of the women and the nature of their business still needed to be determined before any action could be taken.
The pills would be tested to determine their nature.
Meanwhile, cocaine and mandrax worth R1.8m was recovered during a foiled drug-trafficking attempt at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday.
The drugs were detected by x-ray equipment. - The Star