South Africa: Madlanga Commission Digs Into How R500-Million Cocaine Haul Vanished From Police Custody

The commission is investigating how cocaine worth about R500-million vanished from police custody in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Senior officers are facing tough questions over why huge drug hauls were stored in facilities that were not properly secured.

The Madlanga Commission is turning up the heat on one of South Africa's biggest drug scandals.

When hearings resume on Monday, the spotlight is expected to fall on the R300-million Aeroton cocaine bust and the mystery surrounding what happened to the seized drugs.

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The commission has spent days examining claims that police failures, and possibly inside help, allowed massive cocaine shipments to disappear from state custody.

At the centre of the investigation are two shocking cases.

The first involves 750 kilograms of cocaine worth about R300-million that was stored in Aeroton.

The second involves 541 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of R200-million.

That shipment was seized by police in June 2021 after officers intercepted a container in Durban.

But just months later, in November 2021, the drugs vanished from a Hawks storage facility in Port Shepstone.

The commission wants answers.

Last week, officers admitted serious mistakes were made during the handling and storage of the drugs.

But commissioners are now trying to determine whether those mistakes were simply incompetence or part of a deliberate plan.

One of the key witnesses was Gavin Jacob from the Serious Organised Crime Unit.

He admitted there were contradictions and discrepancies in the handling of the cocaine.

Questions have also been raised about why the drugs were transported more than 100 kilometres from Isipingo, where they were seized, to the Hawks offices in Port Shepstone.

The facility has been described as poorly secured.

Allegations have emerged that some officers deliberately wanted the drugs moved there because it would be easier to steal them.

Those claims are now at the heart of the commission's investigation.

Attention is also turning to KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona, who is expected to testify this week.

His evidence could shed light on who made the decisions and whether there was a coordinated effort to move the drugs into vulnerable storage facilities.

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With nearly half a billion rand worth of cocaine linked to the scandal, the commission is under pressure to uncover whether criminals had help from inside the police service.