Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

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  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen

Armed fugitive sought in connection with R400m cocaine bust in Pretoria

 

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Ahmed Isa is wanted by the Hawks after he evaded arrest in Cape Town in the R400 million drug case.
Ahmed Isa is wanted by the Hawks after he evaded arrest in Cape Town in the R400 million drug case.
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  • A fifth suspect is being sought in connection with the R400 million drug bust in Gauteng earlier this month.
  • Ahmad Isa is alleged to have links to a drug syndicate operating in South Africa exporting large quantities of drugs to other countries.
  • He evaded arrest in Cape Town and is considered armed and dangerous.

Investigators from the Hawks' SA Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) are hunting a suspected drug trafficker who evaded arrest when three people linked to a R400 million cocaine haul in Pretoria were nabbed last week in Cape Town.

Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Philani Nkwalase said Ahmad Isa, 41, also known as Pardilov Ariel and Micky Paki, was last seen in Camps Bay, Cape Town. Isa is believed to be armed and considered dangerous.

"He evaded lawful arrest in his Cape Town residence on Saturday 12 June 2021, when three of his alleged accomplices were nabbed. A warrant of arrest was issued against him on 9 June 2021 following his alleged links to a drug syndicate operating in South Africa, stockpiling large quantities of cocaine before exporting it to other countries," Nkwalase added.

According to the Hawks, Isa was wanted by Interpol and was on its Red Notice list issued in Antwerp, Belgium, where he was wanted on charges of dealing in cocaine and money laundering.

Operating

He is alleged to have links to a major drug syndicate operating in the country.

His alleged accomplices - Rafiek Baderoen, 44, Rashied Baderoen, 48, and Michael Norman, 38 - were arrested in Cape Town on 12 June after they were allegedly linked to the high-profile drug bust in Gauteng.

They appeared in the Strand Magistrate's Court last week and were transported to Gauteng on Friday under heavy police guard.

They are expected to appear alongside Niel Pieter van Zyl in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday. Van Zyl was arrested in Pretoria while towing a ski boat that was loaded with compressed cocaine valued at R400 million.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Isa can contact Warrant Officer Brittion on 082 778 2815 or the section head of SANEB, Brigadier Naicker, on 082 778 2818.

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