Thieves of R200m Port Shepstone cocaine are linked to Hawks bosses, says ‘exonerated’ cop

Warrant Officer Karl Sander says that the thieves who stole a cocaine consignment worth more than R200-million from Hawks offices in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021 were connected to the priority crime-fighting unit’s managers.

He testified to this before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday, 2 June, and said that “the links” between the suspected thieves and “the management are known”.

Sander was attached to the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal.

And it was at a depot in Isipingo, KwaZulu-Natal, that the R200-million cocaine consignment was intercepted — months later, it was stolen from the Hawks building in Port Shepstone in what is now believed to have been an inside job.

The Madlanga Commission previously heard that the building lacked proper security measures.

Sander testified before the commission on Tuesday for the second consecutive day, together with four other witnesses during proceedings that stretched into the evening.

Earlier in the day, Sander said that he was previously told he had failed a polygraph test, which detected “deception” on his part over the stolen cocaine.

Sander was never officially informed of this and only saw a document showing he had failed during Monday’s proceedings.

A second report on the polygraph test recorded “no opinion” next to his name, bringing into question the initial finding.

Emotional exoneration

On Tuesday, it emerged that the commission had received an email from a police officer explaining the findings.

The officer explained that the polygraph examiner had “made serious errors” and that the test against Stander was considered invalid.

When he heard this, tears welled in his eyes.

The commission chairperson, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, said it meant that “effectively the warrant officer was exonerated”.

The questionable polygraph findings mean that other police officers may also have been found to have acted deceptively when this was not the case.

During his earlier testimony on Monday, Sander explained that he had worked on narco-trafficking investigations at the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau unit.

However, he was transferred from there and believed this was intended to get him away from drug trafficking cases because his investigations were getting in the way of potentially corrupt individuals, including police officers and port workers.

“If I was not doing a good job, I wouldn’t have been here,” he said. “If I was not interfering in someone’s activities, they would’ve left me.”

‘The suspects are known’

The Madlanga Commission has previously focused on the R200-million cocaine consignment that was stolen from the Hawks building in Port Shepstone.

Other police officers have testified about this scandal, and Sander’s testimony this week adds to that.

On Tuesday, Sander told the commission: “I think it will eventually come out, but the suspects who stole the cocaine are known.”

He said that a Colonel Jacobs had told him who the suspects were.

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This was presumably a reference to Lieutenant Colonel Gavin Jacobs — some witnesses have pronounced his name as Govan — previously identified at the Madlanga Commission as one of two police officers who initially followed up on information about the drug consignment at the Isipingo depot.

Sander, on Tuesday, added that “the links” between the suspects and “the management” were known.

He confirmed he was referring to the management of the Hawks, but did not provide names.

‘It’s about trust’

Lieutenant Colonel Justice Jabulani Duma, attached to an organised crime component in Durban, testified after Stander.

In line with a ruling made earlier this week, Duma testified via audio to protect his identity as an undercover police officer working to counter organised crime.

Duma reiterated during his testimony that previous references to him during Madlanga Commission proceedings had put him at risk.

He said that in his line of work, “It’s all about trust.”

Asked whether there were Hawks officers he did not trust, Duma said he had no evidence to back up any feelings of distrust.

“It’s just my belief, these are the members I work with, that I’m happy to work with,” Duma testified.

His overall feelings later seemingly changed.

Connecting the Hawks and the cocaine

Evidence leader Sesi Baloyi SC put it to Duma that, at first, based on his testimony, it seemed that Duma had been tipped off about the container concealing the cocaine and had caused it to be moved to the depot.

But she said: “Now I’m getting the impression you received information about a container already at the depot.”

Duma confirmed the container was already being held at the depot. In other words, he did not have it moved there.

Baloyi added that the Hawks became involved in the matter through Duma.

He was at the scene when the cocaine was intercepted, and his role was to tell police officers where exactly the cocaine was and “to observe for my own record”.

Major General Hendrik Flynn, who heads the Serious Organised Crime Investigation component of the Hawks, previously told the Madlanga Commission that the Isipingo crime scene had been poorly handled.

He said that instead of sealing it off, officers felt that the area was too busy and moved the cocaine elsewhere, which went against what they were trained to do.

On Tuesday, Duma told the commission that there was too little room at the depot in which to work comfortably, given the amount of cocaine and the shipping container in which it was found.

“I can confirm; there’s no way to have worked there,” said Duma.

He later found out via media reports that the cocaine consignment had been stolen from the Hawks’ offices in Port Shepstone.

Duma said this broke his trust in the Hawks.

Forensic laboratory issues

Another witness who testified before the commission on Tuesday was Warrant Officer Bheki Setshedi, a member of the chemistry investigation unit of the police’s forensic science laboratory in KwaZulu-Natal.

He said he had previously heard that Gavin Jacobs, one of the police officers who initially followed up on the Port Shepstone cocaine, had said that they had an arrangement for Setshedi to accompany him to collect a cocaine sample for testing.

Sethsedi denied they had any conversation “about collecting exhibits”.

Lieutenant Colonel Patience Songca, the sub-section commander for chemical investigation at the KwaZulu-Natal forensic science laboratory, testified on Tuesday evening.

She said that Jacobs contacted her on 11 May, asking her to speak to Setshedi to find out what was in his statement. (It is not clear what statement this was, but it appeared to be about the Port Shepstone cocaine.)

Jacobs sent her questions, but Songca said these had not involved Setshedi.

Songca said Jacobs called again on 19 May, asking if he could see Setshedi.

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Jacobs arrived there 20 minutes later with another officer and wanted to know what Setshedi said in the statement, and when given a copy of it, he questioned various aspects of it.

“That was a little bit concerning to me,” said Songca.

The final witness to testify on Tuesday was Colonel Nonkululeko Khuzwayo, commander of the KwaZulu-Natal forensic science laboratory’s chemistry section.

She testified that while she received a request for unit members to attend the scene of the cocaine interception in Isipingo, Songca informed her it was outside their mandate.

The proceedings continue. DM