Trackers (12 page)

De la Cruz was also one
of the founding members of CORE, and with his good negotiation and networking
skills he played a key role in the alliance. He also recognised, from an early
stage, the threat of the POCA laws and the application of them through the
special investigation unit, the Scorpions.

His fear that
authorities would seize his considerable financial and property assets led him
to make two important appointments - each one a confidant whom he had met in
prison.

The first was an
accountant, the former bookkeeper Moegamat Perkins, (49, sentence for fraud
served out from 1982-1988), who had to ensure that the assets of the Ravens
were, firstly, not in the name of de la Cruz, and secondly, structured so that
confiscation was well-nigh impossible.

The second appointment
was that of a 'general', a strongman who could assert the Ravens' authority
through murder, assault and intimidation, but also a counterweight to ensure
that the influence of the accountant, Perkins, was limited. His choice fell on
Terrence Richard Baadjies (50, 'Terry',

'Terror', 'The
Terrorist' - sentenced to a young offenders' institution at age 15 for murder,
later serving jail time for dealing in forbidden substances, assault with
intent, and manslaughter).

Both appointments were
master strokes. When the Scorpions, and especially the SAPS Unit for Organised Crime,
seized nearly R200 million in gang assets in the Cape Peninsula in the period
2000 to 2006, the Restless Ravens were untouchable. With Terror and his
soldiers always ready to take over disadvantaged syndicates' business through
violent means, the Restless Ravens developed into one of the most successful
criminal organisations during the same period. De la Cruz's prominence in CORE
was also boosted.

Recruitment of young
coloured men from the Cape Flats into the Ravens was also helped considerably
by the socio-economic deterioration of that community since 1994. Some of the
most important factors are:

The drug Tik
(Methamphetamine, or 'Meth'): 91 % of all Tik dependents are coloured - with an
average age of 16.6 years.

18%
of all coloured youths between the ages of 14 and 34 are in jail for crimes.

21.8%
of coloured youths at age 16 are not at school. 48% of the
coloured community are economically inactive, or unemployed. (Of a total of 2.7
million, 975,000 are economically inactive and 340,000 unemployed.)

In conclusion:

The success of the Restless Ravens (and their POCA evasion)
has attracted just the sort of attention they wished to avoid. According to a
recent report in
Die Burger
(28 August 2009) the
new provincial DA government in the Western Cape has given instructions that a
special prosecutor be appointed to investigate the activities of the gang -
with an eye to charges of tax evasion.

15 September 2009. Tuesday.

Late that afternoon Mentz invited them in with a smile and a
light- hearted, 'Sit down, gentlemen.' She told them the Minister had called
her after lunch. He was keen to hear of any new developments. She was able to
tell him about Walvis Bay. Then he said, Janina, the President and I have great
appreciation for your work, but particularly for the manner in which you are
handling this. Have a look at your budget. If you need more, talk to us,
because this is a high priority for us. Something else I must mention: you may
have heard the rumours of a new Intelligence Structure, I hear the corridors
are full of it. Now, Janina, I would like to tell you now, provisionally your
Agency is not part of the President's plans.

Janina Mentz leaned back in her chair and looked at the two
men with great satisfaction.

Masilo pressed his thumbs under his braces and smiled slowly
and broadly.

Rajkumar, loyal to his nature, pounced on the word
'provisionally'.

Mentz reassured him, but today without the habitual frown and
suppressed irritation. 'That was exactly what we wanted, Raj, it was our
primary goal, and we achieved it. Let's enjoy the moment. And let me thank you
both for excellent work.' And then she added: 'I want you to convey my
congratulations to the Report Squad. I thought their work yesterday was
excellent. And let Mrs Killian take them to lunch somewhere nice. On my
account.'

The men disguised their astonishment. They could not remember
ever seeing Janina Mentz like this.

Mentz directed her smile at Masilo. 'And how is our man in
Walvis Bay?'

The advocate reported that according to operator Reinhard
Rohn, Osman had spent the night in the Protea Hotel and flown back to Cape Town
the next day at 12.55. A team was waiting for him here and carefully followed
him to the meeting house of the Supreme Committee in Chamberlain Street, where
it is assumed he gave his report. In the meantime Quinn had given Rohn orders
to stay in Walvis Bay and see what he could do to solve the riddle.

'And what do we know about Consolidated Fisheries, Raj?'

He handed her Jessica's concise report, and said that the
Report Squad could find no evidence whatsoever that the company was involved in
any form of illegal activity. 'They are part of the Erongo Group of companies,
which is listed on their Stock Exchange. They own a fishing fleet of nine stern
trawler vessels, a fish and tinning factory, and they exploit the Benguela
region. There's nothing there.'

'But,' said Tau Masilo, ever the lawyer at work, 'listen to
this for a second,' and he straightened a sheet of paper in front of him and read
aloud: 'All vessels wishing to enter Walvis Bay Harbour, require the following
information to be submitted seventy-two hours prior to the vessel's arrival,
by email or fax: International Ship Security Certificate Number, Security
Status of the vessel, Date of departure from last Port, et cetera ...'

Masilo looked up at Mentz, 'All vessels,' he said and let
that hang there for a moment before completing the sentence: 'with the
exception
of fishing vessels ...' 'Damn,' said
Rajkumar.

'I
suggest, ma'am, that we deploy our three teams in Walvis Bay That is where they
plan to land the weapons. Without a shadow of a doubt...'

17 September 2009. Thursday.

The electro-acoustic microphone in the wall of 15 Chamberlain
Street yielded dividends for the first time.

Just after eleven in the morning, Shaheed Latif Osman arrived
and went inside while the female operative across the street recorded it in
photographs, and on video. She was wearing her headset, but did not expect to
hear much through the concrete microphone; usually the men spoke little in the
front room.

But to
her surprise she heard Osman's voice: 'All quiet?'

Transcription:
Audio surveillance, S.L. Osman and B. Rayan, 15 Chamberlain Street, Upper
Woodstock

Date and Time:
17 September 2009. 11.04

SLO:
All quiet?

BR:
Dead quiet, Uncle.

SLO:
Are you absolutely sure, Baboo?

BR:
I am.

SLO:
Garage cleaned out?

BR:
Yes, Uncle. The car will fit in easily.

SLO:
Very well. You wait in the garage. When I tell you, open the
doors. Once the car is inside, close them again. Baadjies has a bag over his
head, but he understands it has to
be like
that. You will lead him through here
and
then downstairs. Then you come out again, the fewer faces he sees,
the
better. Understood, Baboo?

BR:
Understood, Uncle.

The woman operative made sure the conversation had been
recorded on the laptop before she phoned Quinn.

Quinn hurried to the monitoring room, where he quickly turned
on the TV screens and channelled the live video and audio feeds. He was just in
time to see Baboo Rayan push open the second brown wooden door of the garage at
number fifteen, look around quickly to see if anyone was watching, and then
walk back into the deep shadow inside the garage.

A white Chrysler Neon turned in the driveway and drove into the
garage. Baboo Rayan quickly closed the doors.

Quinn listened to the audio feed.

It was quiet for twenty seconds. Then he heard Osman's voice.
'Slowly, Terry, you're going down the stairs now.'

An unfamiliar voice said 'OK.' There were shuffling noises,
then it went quiet.

They stood on the roof of Wale Street Chambers so that Masilo
could smoke a cigar, 'in celebration'.

Rajkumar was not in a festive mood. 'The Supreme Committee,
consorting with a Cape Flats crime gang. Doesn't make sense.'

'Of course it does,' said Advocate Tau Masilo.

'What do you mean?' Rajkumar asked.

Masilo explained. The Supreme Committee had Inkunzi Shabangu
on one side, who would try to intercept the diamonds, and now they were talking
to Terror Baadjies of the Ravens, the eventual buyers of the diamonds. 'Because
they want to cover all their bases. If Bull Shabangu does manage to hijack the
stones, they buy it from him. If he doesn't, they do a deal with the Ravens.'

Rajkumar was not yet convinced. 'But at what price?'

'You have to understand the nature of the game. Diamond smugglers
all have the same problem; how do they get the most bang for their buck,
because international agreements and law enforcement are making it very
difficult to sell the stuff these days. The big money is now in India, where
more stones are being processed than in Holland. But to sell to the Indians,
you need to work through three or four middlemen, each taking a cut. The Ravens
will probably get forty cents on the rand if they sell through their channels.
But the Supreme Committee has a trump card: Sayyid Khalid bin Alawi Macki.
Remember, he is a money launderer, and he probably has a direct line to the
Indians. So they can offer the Ravens fifty or sixty cents on the rand, and
still get in excess of eighty cents in India. Keep in mind that we are talking
about a shipment in the region of a R100 million. The Committee is looking at a
worst-case scenario of at least R20 million clear profit. More, if Bull
Shabangu intercepts, which still makes that first prize.'

'I did not mean the actual monetary cost,' said Rajkumar,
resigned. 'What about the cost of doing business with a crime syndicate, a drug
organisation? I mean, PAGAD will shit their pants. The whole extremist
community will be up in arms.' He lifted both hands and swept his hair back
over his shoulders. 'What I'm trying to say is: the stakes are very high. Which
means the ultimate goal is very, very important. Big. Bigger than the terms
we've been thinking. So big that they must be able to say the end justifies the
means. If this is going to be an act of terrorism, it's going to be ugly. Which
makes this really bad news.'

'Bad?' said Masilo. 'We'll stop this thing. And, you have to
think like the Director, Raj. In terms of our future, I think it's
great
news.'

Jessica came to fetch Milla from her desk. 'Walk with me,'
she whispered.

Milla followed her to the ladies' room. The Goddess took her
lipstick out of her handbag and stood in front of the mirror to make repairs.
'A friend of a friend is coming down from Jo'burg this weekend. He's an
articled clerk at this big law firm in Jo'burg, beautiful guy, would love to
have company.' 'Oh?'

'He's twenty-four, and ...'

'Twenty-four?'

The Goddess laughed at her and put away her lipstick. 'The
perfect age. So much energy Anyway, he's an articled clerk at this big law firm
in Jo'burg, he's down here for the weekend. And he's beautiful...'

'Jess, I don't know ...'

'Just let him take you to a club,
have a few drinks, dance a little, have some fun. If he's not your type, you've
had a great night. If he is, you fuck him blind.'

Milla blushed. 'I...' 'Oh, live a
little, Milla.'

She suppressed her discomfort. 'I'll
think about it.'

Mentz asked the one question they had
not foreseen. 'Why Terrence Baadjies, the enforcer?'

'Ma'am?' Tau Masilo asked, to gain
time.

'Why did Tweetybird de la Cruz send
his general to the Supreme Committee? Why not Moegamat Perkins, the money man?'