The Bethlehem Magistrate’s Court in the Free State has cracked the whip on two Nigerian male drug kingpins, imposing lengthy sentences for dealing in drugs and corruption.
The accused, Linus Obumme Uchegbu (47) and Okwudili Augustine Nwabo (36) were found guilty of dealing in drugs in Bethlehem based on compelling evidence.
The court sentenced Nwabo, affectionately known as CJ on Tuesday, 2 July, to eight years direct imprisonment for dealing in drugs and corruption, and followed on sentencing Uchegbu to 15 years direct imprisonment for possession of drugs and dealing in drugs on Friday, 5 July.
Col. Zweli Mohobeleli, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said evidence include drugs found in possession of the accused.
He said a member of the police recovered sachets of CAT drug and cash upon searching Nwabo at a house in De Villiers Street on 8 January 2019. Mohobeleli said the officer acted on reliable information. He said the charge of corruption followed Nwabo’s attempt to bribe the officer.
“On 23 June 2021, a member of the Bloemfontein Anti-Gang Unit, who was posted in Bethlehem, received information about a vehicle transporting drugs. He cornered a vehicle fitting the description at a filling station and confronted the driver. The accused Nwabo offered him money to look the other way and he was immediately arrested for corruption,” he said.
Mohobeleli said on a charge of dealing in drugs, the court sentenced Nwabo to seven years imprisonment of which two years is suspended for five years.
“On the count of corruption, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. The two sentences will run separately resulting in an effective eight years imprisonment. In addition, the accused was declared unfit to possess a firearm,” said Mohobeleli.
Uchegbu, known as China was arrested on 6 September 2022, by members of the Bethlehem Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, also acting on reliable information.
“The officer search the black plastic bag Uchegbu, was carrying. The officer discovered several sachets of crystal meth inside a Nestlé Cremora Coffee Creamers box. Sachets were found hidden between the powdered milk bags,” said Mohobeleli.
