Kamini Padayachee
kamini.padayachee@inl,co.za
A DURBAN North woman, who was convicted of drug dealing in November, is not opposing the confirmation of an order preserving her property – as a precursor to its confiscation by the state – because she does not have the money to do so.
The state is applying to seize the house, which it says was used to run a sophisticated dagga laboratory.
Tracey Ann Pretorius, her boyfriend Tyrone Hofland, Travis Bailey, Bonzile Chutshela and Senzele Dlezi were each convicted in the Durban Regional Court, after being arrested in October last year, of one count of dealing in dagga.
The arrests followed a raid at Pretorius’s Briar Lane, Durban North, home, where 44kg of dagga with an estimated street value of R2.2 million was found.
The dagga was of a more potent strain than the local variety and was being cultivated in a laboratory that had a sprinkler system, timers, floodlights, fans and air conditioning.
The facility was situated in a concealed basement in the house. Last month, the Assets Forfeiture Unit secured an order to preserve Pretorius’s home, pending an application to have it forfeited to the state.
Yesterday, the order was confirmed by Durban High Court Judge Nompumelelo Radebe, and costs were reserved.
In a letter which forms part of the court papers, Pretorius’s attorneys, Sarah Pugsley and Associates, said their client had consented to the confirmation of the order because she did not have the money to oppose it.
“She has consented simply to save herself the legal costs of opposing the application, which she can ill afford,” the letter reads.
However, the letter also indicates that Pretorius does not agree that the state is entitled to preserve the property and would oppose a forfeiture application.
“She does not accept the truth and accuracy of many of the affidavits and reserves the right to respond to these statements in the application for forfeiture.”
Pretorius would continue to live at the home pending the forfeiture application.
Hidden panel
In his affidavit, public prosecutions deputy director Kenneth Samuel said the house had played a role in the drug-dealing activities.
He said the area where the dagga was grown was virtually undetectable and had been adapted to accommodate the drug operation.
The investigating officer, Warrant Officer Luke Tancrel, said the dagga laboratory was located behind a hidden panel in the home, which could only be reached through a small opening.
“The room had been equipped to facilitate the cultivation of dagga plants… There were about 105 plants in this first room. In the second room, there were rows of dagga plants, between waist and shoulder height, growing inside black bags. There were also small plants growing in black bags beneath halogen lights, trays with small dagga plants in them, fans, water drums, pumps and a piping system with small sprinklers.”
Pretorius and the four men would be sentenced in January. They are all out on bail.
