Harare — Drug lord Fadwaan “Vet” Murphy made South African history by becoming the first person to be sentenced under the Prevention of Organized Crime Act (Poca), reports Times Live.
Murphy and his ex-wife Shafieka Murphy appeared in court, where they were charged with 229 charges under the Poca and the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.
The court heard testimony about how the two intentionally and illegally disguised a successful drug packaging business while running and managing their firm Ulterior Trading Solutions and making money off of criminal activity.
The tik (methamphetamine) packaging enterprise was bust on September 18, 2015, when cops caught Shafieka Murphy and two others red-handed packing drugs at a property in Grassy Park.
The State sought to establish that the enterprise engaged in illegal activity consisting of planned, ongoing, and repeated drug and money laundering within the Mitchells Plain, Wynberg, Cape Town, Strand, Worcester, and Caledon districts between July 2013 and September 2015, which activity constituted a pattern of racketeering activity under Poca.
To do this, investigators dug through cellphone data, which showed Shafieka and Fadwaan Murphy travelling between the packing firm and Worcester.
Acting Judge Davis revoked their bail and sent Murphy and his co-accused former wife to prison, pending their sentencing on July 18.