Noble, Azhar guilty

Two men accused of smuggling 412kg of cocaine worth more than N$200 million into Namibia four years ago have been found guilty of being in possession of or alternatively dealing in a dangerous dependence-producing drug."The accused deliberately imported the drugs from Brazil and used the business as a front. The defendants&#039; version that they did not know the drugs were in the cargo container is false and is rejected," Windhoek High Court Judge Orben Sibeya said in his judgment on Thursday.On Thursday, in which he found both Grant Noble (40) and Dinath Azhar (66) guilty of orchestrating a shipment of a record haul of drugs into Namibia via the port of Walvis Bay.The accused smugglers from Walvis Bay, who attempted to execute what has been described as possibly the largest import of a record quantity of drugs in Namibia’s history, were however, found not guilty on a charge of money laundering.InformationIn 2018, police were tipped off to search a shipping container heading to the port of Walvis Bay, from Santos in Brazil.The cargo container was imported in the name of Noble&#039;s company, ZEEKI Trading, and was supposed to contain a consignment of photocopy paper.On arrival on 15 June 2018, the container was searched by port security, police, customs and excise officials in the presence of Noble.Twenty of the 480 boxes stored inside were found to contain drugs.Forensic testing confirmed that the record drug bust was cocaine.SuspiciousDefence lawyer Sisa Namandje argued during the trial that the search of the cargo container was unlawful due to an invalid search warrant.Sibeya dismissed this claim.Sibeya also questioned why ZEEKI Trading, of which Noble was the sole shareholder and Azhar a partner, rented a pricey warehouse every month, which was not used.According to Noble, they intended to import the photocopy paper and sell it at a profit.Sibeya pointed out that they paid about N$130 000 in rent but received no income from the business.According to Sibeya, it was also suspicious when the police instructed Noble to come to their premises so they could search the cargo container, that he requested that they do so at his warehouse.Bail withdrawnAzhar was granted bail last year during the trial. After the guilty verdict last week, his bail was revoked, and he was placed in custody.The parties will appear again on 8 and 9 September for final arguments before sentencing, where the defence will argue for a reduced sentence and the state for a harsher sentence.̶ kristien@republikein.com.na

Noble, Azhar guilty

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Noble, Azhar guilty

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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