One of Cape Town’s drug syndicate leaders, Fadwaan Murphy, was sentenced after nearly a decade-long court case.
Also read: Drug kingpin Fadwaan Murphy threatens journalist in court
Murphy and his ex-wife Shafieka faced more than 200 charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) in the Western Cape High Court on Friday, IOL reports.
Murphy faced a total of 229 charges, ranging from money laundering to drug dealing, and he is the first drug dealer to be convicted under Poca.
Police discovered his tik-packaging warehouse in Reindeer Street, Lotus River, on 15 September, 2015. Murphy’s ex-wife and two other women were found here, as well as drugs and cash worth R4 million, including 7 985 packets of tik and 10 400 units of heroin.
The State provided cellphone records, which revealed how Murphy and his ex-wife ran the operation between the warehouse and Worcester.
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According to the State, Murphy created an illegal enterprise named Ulterior Trading Solutions CC to conduct criminal activities. His gang, the Dixies, established their territory in Mitchells Plain.
The 51-year-old was sentenced to 18 years in prison and fined R2 million, while his ex-wife received 15 years in prison. The Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU) also auctioned off Murphy’s assets, which included 14 vehicles and three properties.
Acting Judge Dianne Davis laid out the sentence as follows:
- Twelve years for Poca
- Seven years imprisonment on each charge of 139 counts of dealing in drugs
- One year’s imprisonment on each count for each of the 73 charges of money laundering
- Counts 223, 224 and 225 were linked to three properties he owned in Worcester and Lentegeur. These were seized by the AFU as they were obtained with the proceeds of criminal activities. Murphy received 80 years for this.
Furthermore, all of his immovable and movable properties will be auctioned and the proceeds will be retained by the Criminal Assets Recovery Account.
His company, Ulterior Trading Solutions, was listed as accused number six on the charge sheet and was fined R2 million.
Judge Davis says his sentences will run concurrently, while the 18-year sentence was imposed alongside the fine.
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His ex-wife and mother of his two children, Shafieka, received 12 years for three counts of Poca, seven years for each count of the 130 charges of attempted drug dealing, six months imprisonment for each count of 25 charges relating to money laundering, and 15 years for one count of drug dealing.
Byron de Villiers of the Lentegeur Community Policing Forum says he hopes that other gangs don’t ‘see this as an opportunity to move in on Vet’s stronghold’.
‘We salute the justice system for taking on this case and showing that we can get rid of the scourge of gangsterism and drugs if we stand united as a community,’ says Raafiqah Ganger of Lentegeur West Neighbourhood Watch.
‘However, we note that there is still drug dealing taking place at Fadwaan Murphy’s place. We want to know about the properties belonging to him.’
Murphy’s team will return to court on 29 January after launching an appeal.
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Also read:
5-year-long drug packaging court case ends in historic trial
Picture: Wesley Tingey / Unsplash