Madlanga Commission hears how cocaine consignment slipped through Durban Harbour
The commission has heard details about the alleged mishandling of 750kg of cocaine worth an estimated R300 million.
Senior Gauteng Hawks officer Francois Steyn has told the Madlanga Commission that the illicit trade of drugs is difficult to penetrate.
He has testified about the alleged mishandling of 750kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of R300 million.
The drugs were allegedly transported from Brazil to the Durban Harbour and then to Johannesburg without being detected.
Steyn says combating drug trafficking is challenging because syndicates often work with corrupt officials.
“Drug syndicates have to employ some other person within law enforcement, be that the police, be that customs, SARS or the like, so that they can try and stop this container from going its normal route to allow them to do the rip-off, where another set of seals is then again used to seal the container again as soon as they rip off this consignment of drugs.”
Steyn explained that the “rip-on/rip-off” method is commonly used by criminal syndicates to move drugs through seaports.
He said the practice remains a major challenge for law enforcement in South Africa.
“This concealment takes place in the country of origin where these containers are packed. That is where the so-called rip-off part of this modus operandi comes to the fore, where drugs are concealed. The irritant case, for example, was a container containing body parts for Scania trucks.”
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Evidence storage concerns
Meanwhile, a crime expert says with the theft of cocaine worth an estimated R200 million from Port Shepstone, the evidence presented at the Madlanga Commission so far suggests there may have been a broader plan at play.
The commission last week heard that provincial Hawks Head, Lesetja Senona, had instructed that the cocaine that had been seized at a depot in Isipingo be stored at the Port Shepstone offices, and that he also kept a key to the premises.
A police official told the commission that Senona instructed him not to inform other Hawks members that the drugs were being kept there.
Another officer testified that the offices had been broken into at least seven times before the theft.
Chad Thomas from IRS Forensic Investigations says what's been coming out of the Madlanga Commission is confirmation of long-held concerns about the scale of drug trafficking and corruption in South Africa.
“This case in particular highlights the problems we have and the deficit of leadership that we have. The fact that drugs were moved to a location which has clearly been shown to be improper, irregular, and not safe enough is indicative of the fact that there was a greater plan in mind, and that was the fact that these drugs were going to be stolen and used on the black market.”
Thomas says the country has become a major transhipment hub for organised crime because of its strategic position along both the east and west coasts.
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