It was still not clear whether Kebble murder-accused Glenn Agliotti would be charged with involvement in a multimillion-rand drugs syndicate, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday.
His name was expected to be added to the charge sheet ahead of the appearance in the Germiston Regional Court on Thursday of Stephanos Paparas (45).
Paparas handed himself over to the police on July 13, after the arrest of his elderly father and four others on July 7 during a Scorpions investigation into an international drugs syndicate.
During the probe, hashish and cannabis with an estimated street value of R250 000 and believed destined for the overseas market was seized at a self-storage facility in Alberton.
At the time, the Scorpions said the storage facility contained a well-equipped factory for the packaging and concealment of drugs.
The Scorpions told the Star newspaper that Agliotti was allegedly the head of the smuggling network and was apparently nicknamed ”The Landlord”.
Paparas last appeared in court on December 12 when a Germiston Regional Court said the case had been provisionally postponed until Thursday for further investigation, with the possibility ”that an additional accused will be charged on that day”.
While the Scorpions reportedly said the person referred to was Agliotti, his lawyer said he knew nothing of plans to charge his client with involvement in the drugs syndicate.
Sentence was passed on Canadian Lesley Curtis and South Africans Christiaan Albas and Pedro Marques in the Alberton Magistrate’s Court on July 25 after they apparently became state witnesses under a plea agreement.
According to the Scorpions, the three had also undertaken to identify key role-players in the drug industry and key routes used to transport illegal substances to other countries.
Curtis and Albas received 10 years each, suspended for five years, while Marques was sentenced to five and half years, three of which were suspended.
Conditional bail of R50 000 was granted to Paparas’s 70-year-old father Dimitrio on July 13. Bail was also set for Stanley Poonin.
They were described as minor role-players in the syndicate. The younger Paparas received bail of R500 000 on August 11, but was placed under 24-hour house arrest and was ordered not to make contact with state witnesses — conditions the court refused to relax on Tuesday.
He is accused of being Agliotti’s right-hand man. – Sapa