30 years for druglord

An international drug kingpin has been jailed for an effective 30 years - the first time a narcotics dealer has been convicted in South Africa of racketeering.

Philip Nsofor, 40, who called himself "the Lion of Alberton", was sentenced to 81 years in the Benoni Magistrate's Court, on the East Rand, on Friday.

He will serve an effective 30 years' imprisonment because some of the sentences will run concurrently.

It is believed to be the longest sentence handed to a drug dealer in this country. His sentencing follows a six-year investigation.

Nsofor arrived in South Africa illegally from Nigeria in 2002 and began dealing in drugs from a cellphone shop he owned in Alberton North, and from a nearby informal settlement - becoming one of Johannesburg's biggest drug dealers.

The court heard that he had evaded arrest for years by bribing Alberton police officers.

On Friday, Magistrate Zweli Zakwe said that he had to weigh up during sentencing society's need for retribution and the offender's likelihood of rehabilitation.

He concluded that Nsofor was a danger to society.

"Drug dealers have become more complicated and the justice system needs to catch up," Zakwe said.

Nsofor's arrest in 2009 was the culmination of Operation LA - short for Lion of Alberton. Part of the operation involved a police reservist going undercover for 18 months during which time he bought illegal drugs from Nsofor on four occasions. His undercover work became a Hawks operation.

A police informant working for Nsofor travelled to Sao Paulo, in Brazil, to collect a painting in which 1.5kg of pure cocaine was concealed.

During the trial, prosecutor Johan Badenhorst argued that Nsofor was at the centre of a large business enterprise with ties to international drugs syndicates.

He said the drug kingpin had targeted pupils at Parklands High School, near his cellphone shop.

For the four drug sales in the sting, Zakwe sentenced Nsofor to 40 years; 20 years for the purchase of cocaine in Sao Paulo and 20 years for racketeering. He was also sentenced to 12 months for immigration violations.

Nsofor denied he was a drug dealer and claimed he had been rehabilitated and was a pastor in prison. But Zakwe drew attention to undercover footage that showed Nsofor praying for the safe arrival of his cocaine.