The Kempton Park Magistrate's Court has denied the bail applications of three men implicated in a multi-million rand drug bust in Australia.
The men — Stanley Nkuna, Justice Mahloma, Madimetje Mahangwhane, Thulani Sibiya and Fuba Mahlangu — have been in police custody following their arrest in November last year.
According to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), Nkuna, Sibiya and Mahlangu were denied bail while Mahloma and Mahangwhane were granted R15,000 bail each.
Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the two men who were granted bail are not to leave the province without notifying the investigating officer in warning.
Mogale said the men were arrested in connection with a major drug bust in Australia in October where police recovered five bags, each containing 100kg of cocaine.
The drugs were worth around R500 million.
IOL previously reported that an operation was mobilised following allegations that these suspects are employees of various companies at the OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia), where they are said to be facilitating the thoroughfare of drugs coming into and out of the airport.
Last year, an Australian man who imported drugs from Cape Town hidden in meat smokers, was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. The man was found guilty of jointly attempting to possess a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
IOL