Madlanga commission hears how 999kg cocaine bust unfolded in Gauteng

Colonel Francois Steyn, the commander of the Gauteng West Rand Hawks, has told the Madlanga commission that police intercepted a tonne of cocaine shipped from Brazil to Johannesburg in July 2021, after Gauteng traffic officers initially attempted to seize the drugs from a logistics truck. Steyn said a shipping container from the Port of Santos had arrived at Durban harbour late in the evening, “after hours”, before being transported to the Johannesburg premises of automotive manufacturer Scania South Africa. “In the cavity between the body parts and the door of the container, they uncovered 999kg of cocaine bricks, which was reported to me later. So it is indeed correct that it’s basically a tonne, which they uncovered there,” Steyn said. A Scania risk manager had later alerted the Hawks that a container from Durban harbour had attracted police interest and requested that only the Hawks inspect it. “So there is no other law enforcement involvement in this matter,” Steyn said. After the Hawks had become involved, the drugs had been confiscated in Johannesburg. They were currently being held by the narcotics unit in Pretoria. Steyn said the Hawks had taken over the investigation because the drug trafficking operation crossed international waters from the Port of Santos to Durban. Gauteng traffic chief Ernst Mashaba had reportedly stopped a truck belonging to logistics company Yellow Jersey on its way to the Scania premises in Johannesburg. Mashaba had been denied access because he did not have a warrant. “There was an unsuccessful attempt to search the container. As I indicated, the people at the Yellow Jersey said he did not have a search warrant, so he must rather deal with the end user, Scania,” said Steyn. Commissioners questioned why traffic police had been involved in a drug bust, noting that it fell outside standard operating procedures. Steyn agreed that drug searches were outside the mandate of traffic officials. Steyn said that when Mashaba had arrived at th