A Hanover Park man has been found guilty of smokkeling Mandrax worth around R200 000 nearly nine years after his arrest.
Mark Overmeyer, 56, returned to the Wynberg Regional Court this week where he received a suspended sentence for his involvement in a drug bust in Grassy Park during 2016.
The man, who allegedly has links to the Ghetto Kidz Gang, was arrested alongside Mogamat Rafiek Hayners, who was sentenced to six years in the mang for the crash which led to the death of six-year-old Shaylynn Arendse and her nanny Maureen Abrahams, 61, from Lotus River.
Hawks spokesperson Siyabulela Vukubi says Overmeyer was arrested in May 2016 when he was caught transporting over 6 000 Mandrax pille.
“The Bellville-based South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) team, in conjunction with Metro police, followed up information in May 2016 about a vehicle that was transporting drugs in Lotus River, Grassy Park,” Vukubi explained.
“The occupant of the vehicle was arrested after 6 544 Mandrax tablets were discovered and seized. The total value of the drugs was R196 320.”
In September 2018, Hayners handed himself over to cops after the deadly crash, and appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court where he was granted bail.
However, just two months later he was busted by the Hawks when he was found in possession of drugs valued at R8.9 million at a storage facility in Somerset West.
At the time, the Hawks revealed that they found heroin, tik and Mandrax in the storage facility. Hayners was sent to the tjoekie.
Two weeks later the Anti-Gang Unit swooped on Overmeyer and busted him for being part of the drug syndicate linked to the R8.9m drug haul, along with Russel Jonathan and Zaynisa Alfoz.
Vukubi explains that the sentence handed down to Overmeyer this week is related to the first arrest in 2016, where he was convicted of drug dealing and contravening the Drug Trafficking Act.
“Overmeyer was sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment of which two years is suspended for a period of five years,” he said.
Vukubi also reveals that Overmeyer will now be called to Khayelitsha Regional Court as his new sentence is in violation of the conditions set out in an earlier sentence handed down in 2014 on similar charges.
“The accused will furthermore be requisitioned to appear at Khayelitsha Court on a case of dealing in drugs where he was arrested during 2014. He was handed a five-year imprisonment sentence which was wholly suspended for a period of five years,” Vukubi added.
“But as this new sentence shows he committed a similar crime during the time in which he was already serving a suspended sentence, the court will have to make a decision on whether or not he will now be remanded in custody.
“At this stage I am unable to comment on the Somerset West matter.”
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