COCAINE COAST: How Western Cape ‘murder-at-sea’ cocaine case links to ‘Big Five base’ in Gauteng

In 2024, a R252-million cocaine consignment was allegedly retrieved at sea along the Western Cape coast. Two accused in this case were also arrested in 2025 in connection with suspected drug trafficking in Gauteng, while a third has now pleaded guilty and made harrowing allegations about a murder at sea.

A web of drug accusations connects a R252-million cocaine consignment retrieved off the Western Cape coast to alleged drug trafficking in Gauteng, where accusations are rife that law enforcers have been colluding with traffickers.

The coastal case hinges on cocaine that was intercepted on land in Still Bay in July 2024 after it was apparently retrieved from the sea.

Daily Maverick has previously reported how traffickers from other countries sometimes partner with local gang bosses who send members in boats from coastal hubs to retrieve drug consignments offloaded from ships.

Sometimes, retrievals are outsourced to individuals simply desperate for money and not linked to gangs.

The Still Bay case experienced a major development last week when it emerged that one of the accused – Alan Bushby of Midrand in Gauteng – entered a plea and accepted a sentencing deal.

He was convicted for dealing in drugs that were brought into this country from international waters along Still Bay and sentenced to an effective 10 years in jail.

Bushby also made harrowing allegations about a murder at sea – an unidentified individual was apparently shot, and his body dumped overboard.

Daily Maverick has established two others facing charges in this case were arrested in 2025 in connection with suspected drug trafficking in Gauteng.

The arrests in the Still Bay case did not happen simultaneously, but were spread out and involved individuals residing across the country.

According to the State, aside from Bushy, the other accused in the case are:

#sapsHAWKS Western Cape: #Hawks' South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) team based in George arrested a third additional suspect (39) on 11/02 on charges of dealing in drugs after the execution of a warrant of arrest. The suspect was arrested in Sandton,… pic.twitter.com/TW4Ho3QaaA

Bushby is set to testify against them in this case, which is scheduled to resume at the end of August. Their full versions of events may become clearer as court hearings proceed.

Fourie and Vuckovic, meanwhile, were detained in another matter after the July 2024 cocaine interception in Still Bay.

They were arrested in Gauteng, which shifts aspects of the Still Bay case closer to South Africa’s law enforcement scandal.

In July last year,