Two charged over coke case bribery

THE Police have arrested and charged two men over an alleged bid to use bribery to buy the freedom of a young Angolan woman who is accused of having smuggled a record quantity of cocaine into Namibia.

Miaka Aliano (48) and Joao Claudio (34) appeared before Magistrate Sarel Jacobs in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on a charge of bribery on Monday. They were arrested on Thursday last week, minutes after they had allegedly handed over N$10 000 to a senior member of the Namibian Police’s Drug Law Enforcement Unit in exchange for the Police docket on the investigation of the cocaine dealing charge against a 22-year-old Angolan woman, Nicola Basenga.Basenga was arrested at the Hosea Kutako International Airport near Windhoek on May 24.She had landed at the airport with a flight from Johannesburg.That was the second leg of a return journey to Africa that had started with a flight from Sao Paulo in Brazil.She was arrested after customs officials investigating the contents of suitcases in Basenga’s possession allegedly discovered that a white powder suspected to be cocaine was hidden inside cardboard shirt-stiffeners that were in scores of new shirts that formed the bulk of the contents of her luggage.The Police claim that members of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit eventually found suspected cocaine in 112 of the shirt-stiffeners.With the suspected drugs amounting to some 21 kilograms, it would be the largest single quantity of cocaine yet to have been confiscated by the Namibian Police.The drugs would have a street market value of some N$9,45 million.According to a Police source the Unit Commander of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit in Windhoek, Detective Inspector Barry de Klerk, was allegedly approached by Aliano and Claudio about a month ago with a request that he should help them get Basenga out of the tight spot that she is currently in.De Klerk allegedly feigned interest in their suggestions, culminating in a transaction in his office at the Unit on Thursday, when the two suspects are claimed to have handed N$10 000 to him in order to buy the Police docket on Basenga’s case from him – thus in effect destroying much of the evidence against her.De Klerk however had them arrested just outside the Unit’s offices.On Monday, both were remanded in custody when their case was postponed to November 30 for further investigations.Basenga herself also appeared in court before Magistrate Jacobs late last week.She applied to be released on bail, but had to return to Police custody after her application was turned down on Friday.She has to appear in court again on November 26.They were arrested on Thursday last week, minutes after they had allegedly handed over N$10 000 to a senior member of the Namibian Police’s Drug Law Enforcement Unit in exchange for the Police docket on the investigation of the cocaine dealing charge against a 22-year-old Angolan woman, Nicola Basenga.Basenga was arrested at the Hosea Kutako International Airport near Windhoek on May 24.She had landed at the airport with a flight from Johannesburg.That was the second leg of a return journey to Africa that had started with a flight from Sao Paulo in Brazil.She was arrested after customs officials investigating the contents of suitcases in Basenga’s possession allegedly discovered that a white powder suspected to be cocaine was hidden inside cardboard shirt-stiffeners that were in scores of new shirts that formed the bulk of the contents of her luggage.The Police claim that members of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit eventually found suspected cocaine in 112 of the shirt-stiffeners.With the suspected drugs amounting to some 21 kilograms, it would be the largest single quantity of cocaine yet to have been confiscated by the Namibian Police.The drugs would have a street market value of some N$9,45 million.According to a Police source the Unit Commander of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit in Windhoek, Detective Inspector Barry de Klerk, was allegedly approached by Aliano and Claudio about a month ago with a request that he should help them get Basenga out of the tight spot that she is currently in.De Klerk allegedly feigned interest in their suggestions, culminating in a transaction in his office at the Unit on Thursday, when the two suspects are claimed to have handed N$10 000 to him in order to buy the Police docket on Basenga’s case from him – thus in effect destroying much of the evidence against her.De Klerk however had them arrested just outside the Unit’s offices.On Monday, both were remanded in custody when their case was postponed to November 30 for further investigations.Basenga herself also appeared in court before Magistrate Jacobs late last week.She applied to be released on bail, but had to return to Police custody after her application was turned down on Friday.She has to appear in court again on November 26.