Alleged drug dealer Nazier Kapdi is well-known at the Western Cape directorate for public prosecutions (DPP), the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Wednesday.
”I’ve been a prosecutor for 30 years and I know Kapdi; I know he does not operate his network alone,” DPP senior deputy director Nollie Nieuhaus told the court.
He was testifying for the state in Kapdi’s trial in order to counter a defence bid to have a police trap that netted Kapdi and four alleged accomplices declared invalid. They face charges of dealing in the drug tik.
The co-accused are Ismail Daniels; his wife, Fatima Clark; Ghulzar Ahmed; and Owen Phakade.
Nieuhaus was questioned at length by defence counsel Lawrence Hodes, for Daniels and his wife, about the fact that the police application for permission to set up the trap had only reflected Kapdi’s name as the target, but not the names of the four others.
Nieuhaus said if Kapdi was involved in drug trafficking, he no doubt had the assistance of others in his network.
Hodes said to Nieuhaus: ”You must have been very keen to have a solid case against just one person.”
Nieuhaus replied: ”I’m a prosecutor, not a persecutor, but this was an opportunity.”
Questioned about the trap itself, Nieuhaus outlined the procedure police followed to obtain the DPP’s permission to set up an undercover operation.
He said he authorised such operations himself, and that he always required feedback from the police involved about the result. ”Often before I even get the required feedback, I read about it in the news.”
A highlight of Wednesday’s proceedings happened while Hodes’s father, Max, representing Kapdi, was questioning Nieuhaus. The elderly father is assisted by attorney and his peer Norman Snitcher, who kept suggesting questions.
Snitcher’s interruptions got too much for Hodes Snr, who eventually snapped at Snitcher: ”Just keep quiet!”
Magistrate Fransie Mouton responded to Hodes: ”You and Mr Snitcher are always at each other.”
Hodes replied: ”Yes, he’s annoying me.” — Sapa