Bail appeal of Christopher Carelse denied in R18 million drug trafficking case

Christopher Carelse, a co-accused drug trafficker and holder of undocumented firearms, will remain in custody following the denial of his bail appeal by the Western Cape High Court this week.

The 38-year-old is facing charges alongside suspended Standard Bank manager Raed Cupido after police discovered 15 bricks of cocaine valued at approximately R18 million, along with an AK-103 rifle, a Uzi Pro rifle, five semi-automatic firearms, and 130 rounds of ammunition in a storage unit on Roeland Street in Cape Town's CBD.

The charges they face amount to a Schedule 5 offence and are currently being heard before the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court. 

This week, High Court judge Derek Wille said he was unable to conclude that the lower court's judicial officer was wrong when weighing up Carelse’s personal circumstances against the seriousness of the charges against him and the interests of society.

Compounding the denial to have his bail appeal granted, Judge Wille submitted that Carelse made a conscious and deliberate decision not to address the merits of the case against him. 

Judge Wille said the lower court, which denied the initial bail application in its decision, “was correctly based on a cumulative analysis of the evidence (which was not wrong)”.

In lower court bail proceedings, the court heard that police officers have video footage, firearm links, and forensic evidence tying both men to the drugs.

It was Carelse’s argument that because he has not had insight into the police docket or allegations against him, he could not pursue the merits of the case. 

Judge Wille disagreed with his arguments. 

“I say so because he knows he is facing serious charges, and yet he relies solely on his personal circumstances in his attempt to secure his release on bail, without offering a single explanation regarding the merits of the charges against him.”

Carelse’s core ground of appeal is that the judicial officer in the lower court erred and misdirected herself by finding that he did not meet the threshold of the onus imposed upon him, “losing sight of the very tenuous evidence linking (Carelse) to the offences he faces”.

“Again, this is challenging to understand. To aver that the prima facie evidence against him is tenuous is incorrect. This is especially so in the context of Carelse’s decision not to take the court into his confidence regarding the merits of the allegations against him,” said Judge Wille.

Personal circumstances of Carelse - who earned a managerial monthly salary of R 76,000 - included, among other reasons, that he has been employed as a manager for the last 14 years; lives with his life partner at a Cape Town address for the past eight months; owns an immovable property in Gauteng; and he has a minor child. 

It is the State’s case that Carelse and Cupido are so-called “first receivers” of drugs being trafficked into the country, and according to the investigating officer, they were linked to multiple international cartels.

The lower court previously heard that the pair were pressured by an officer and former employee of the alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson into admitting that the drugs were theirs. 

Carelse, a manager at Shell Downstream SA, submitted that he was not present at the storage unit when the alleged drugs, firearms, and ammunition were found.

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