Staff Reporter
GRANT Noble (40) and Dinath Azhar (66), two Walvis Bay residents, were found guilty of smuggling 412kg of cocaine, valued at N$206 million, into the country during 2018, which is still the biggest drug busts in Namibian history.
In his judgment on Thursday, the High Court Judge Orben Sibeya indicated that the circumstantial evidence relied upon by the State revealed that the two men were knowledgeable that the container sent from Brazil to Namibia had cocaine in it.
During their trial, which started last year, the two accused persons had argued that they were not aware that the container had cocaine it, adding that they only imported printing papers through a close corporation (CC), Zeeki Trading, owned by Noble, which was shipped through from Brazil via Cape Town to Walvis Bay.
Meanwhile, the container in question was discovered with 20 boxes of cocaine and 460 boxes of printing papers.
Referencing to the evidence provided before court, Sibeya stated that Zeeki Trading CC rented a warehouse in Walvis Bay for a year, without making use of it. He added that, while the importation of the container was Zeeki Trading’s first business activity, Noble and Azhar used the CC as a front to import printing paper, with cocaine in it, into Namibia. He dismissed the version that they did not know the container had cocaine inside.
Noble and Azhar were arrested on 15 June 2018, after Customs and Police officials at Walvis Bay’s harbour discovered that the container shipped by them from Brazil had 412kg of cocaine, making it the largest consignment of cocaine to have been confiscated in Namibia.
The duo will return to court on 8 September for a pre-sentence hearing and they are currently held in custody.
