Children turn on drug dealing parents

Durban - Three properties on the same road in Northdale in Pietermaritzburg, four vehicles, household contents, jewellery and cash were among items worth about R1.5 million seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit from an alleged drug-dealing couple on Wednesday.

Hoosen Mohamed and his wife, Yasmin, who were allegedly in the drug-dealing business for more than two decades, were in custody while their possessions were being taken.

They were arrested in a police raid last week, and the court case was adjourned to next Friday.

The court papers authorising the seizure were handed to their son, Shameer, who was left in charge of the couple’s affairs.

A Volvo S40 and three Toyotas were seized.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Knorx Molelle, said in court papers that it was believed the items had been obtained with the proceeds of crime.

Although the couple were unemployed, they had acquired and continued to accumulate assets and properties.

The purchases could not be justified by any legitimate and known source of income.

Molelle said the couple had been the subject of numerous police investigations over the past 10 years, and Hoosen had a conviction for drug dealing.

Also, the couple’s children had turned on them.

“They gave a detailed and intimate account of their parents’ drug-dealing activities and the circumstances under which they acquired their assets.”

Their daughter, Suehayfa Cassim, alleged her parents had been selling drugs for more than 20 years from the properties, and had never been employed. They had apparently employed “runners” to sell the drugs and on numerous occasions, she said, she had witnessed her mother cutting up blocks of cocaine in the house and handing it to the runners.

The couple’s son, Faraz Mohamed, confirmed what his sister said. He said their father’s role was allegedly to collect drugs from suppliers, mainly in Durban. He would assist his wife in packaging and counting the drugs.

He claimed drugs had been stored at two of the properties and in the bush surrounding the boundaries of the houses.

His mother used to ask him to take cash, between R3 000 and R6 000, from one property to another.

Faraz disclosed that his mother had bought his brother, Shameer, three motor vehicles, which were paid for in cash. The vehicles were registered in the names of family members.

The couple’s son-in-law, Zulfikaar Sheik, confessed he had known his in-laws were dealing in drugs from the time he dated their daughter. He said he used to collect money from drug users and drugs from suppliers. He also used to sell drugs for his in-laws.

The assets removed by the unit are to be preserved until an application is brought for them to be forfeited.

The Mercury