SC0011
Cocaine exhibit theft and premature destruction
Two distinct cocaine seizures whose exhibits were stolen or mishandled by DPCI members. Heist 1: 541kg seized at Isipingo harbour, stored at Port Shepstone DPCI offices, stolen Nov 2021 (street value R200M). Heist 2: ~715kg from a Brazil-origin container, stored at FSL Pretoria; officer pushed for destruction before FSL testing (street value ~R300M). Both involve DPCI evidence-chain failures and potential insider facilitation.
11 events0 contradictionsR500,000,000
People in this scheme
Maj-Gen Senona6Lieutenant-Colonel Justice Jabulani Duma (SAPS Cri5Lt-Col (now Col) Gavin Jacob3Warrant Officer Setshedi1Warrant Officer Mpangase1
Timeline of events
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August 2020
Major General Senona was appointed as Provincial Head of DPCI KwaZulu-Natal in August 2020 — placing him in command of the unit responsible for both cocaine seizures that followed.
appointment date: in 2020, Commissioners, I was appointed to the rank of a Maj-Gen at the DPCI KwaZulu-Natal.
appointment date: Major General Senona was appointed around August 2020.
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21 June 2021
Lt Col Duma of Crime Intelligence received intelligence on 21 June 2021 including the specific container number carrying cocaine — the tip that triggered the following day's joint DPCI/CI operation at Isipingo.
received: the proper information was received on the 21 s t of June telephonically
received: The exact information where I received the container number was on the 21st
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22 June 2021
Acting on Lt Col Duma's intelligence, DPCI and Crime Intelligence conducted a joint operation at CHC Depot in Isipingo on 22 June 2021, seizing 541kg of cocaine from a container. Colonel Jacob coordinated with Captain Duma just after 7am.
count: There were 541 bricks of cocaine
occurred on: the 541 kilograms of cocaine seized on 22 June 2021
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22 June 2021
After seizure, Maj-Gen Senona decided to store the 541kg of cocaine at the DPCI Port Shepstone offices due to lack of storage capacity at Isipingo and FSL Amanzimtoti. He personally took possession of the safe keys, contrary to standard procedure requiring the SAP13 clerk to hold them.
agreed to store exhibits at: I agreed that the exhibits to be stored at the Port Shepstone offices
context: after consulting Maj -Gen Senona Provincial Head of DPCI KZN
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24 June 2021
Samples from the 541kg cocaine were taken and submitted to FSL Amanzimtoti for analysis on 24 June 2021 — but the bulk of the consignment remained at Port Shepstone rather than being transferred to FSL as regulations require.
action taken: forward the samples to FSL
samples sent date: Samples were taken and forwarded to the FSL on 2021-07-05 for analysis
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9 July 2021
Approximately 715kg of cocaine (initially reported as 999kg) was seized from a Brazil-origin container at Aeroton/Booysens on 9 July 2021. Exhibits were taken to Booysens SAPS then transferred to FSL Pretoria. A discrepancy between the scene count (700 bags) and FSL receipt (715 bags) suggests tampering.
amount zar: they uncovered 999 kilograms of Cocaine bricks
amount zar: it is basically a tonne that they did uncover there
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27 October 2021
Colonel Jacob warned FSL that individuals were planning to break into the Port Shepstone office to steal the cocaine. Jacob informed Setshedi. The warning was not acted on in time to prevent the subsequent theft.
told: he had stated that on 27 October 2021 that I had told him that people were planning to break into Port Shepstone office to steal the drugs
stated fact: he says you told him that there were people who wanted to break into Port Shepstone to steal the drugs
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2021-11-05 – 2021-11-08
Over the weekend of 5–8 November 2021, unknown persons broke into the DPCI Port Shepstone office, cut open the safe, and stole all 541kg of cocaine — valued at R200 million. The theft was discovered on Monday 8 November.
theft status: cocaine stored there in was stolen
event type: The last one is the actual theft of the cocaine, the last one.
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12 November 2021
FSL destroyed exhibits on 12 November 2021 — four days after the Port Shepstone theft was discovered. It is unclear whether these were the Aeroton cocaine exhibits or unrelated exhibits (mandrax or earlier matters).
action taken: they denied it
action taken: the date of destruction by the FSL was the 12th of November 2021
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undated
FSL Silverton/Pretoria reported multiple prior cases requiring processing before the Aeroton cocaine exhibits could be handled, creating a backlog. FSL Amanzimtoti had also been unable to accommodate the earlier Isipingo exhibits. These capacity failures enabled non-standard storage arrangements.
status: This seems to be a regular occurrence. In the other seizures referred to earlier, the reason for noncompliance with the seven-day period appears to also be that FSL has no capacity to receive the exhi
reason for action: there is multiple cases before this matters that needs to be dealt with before these exhibits can be submitted
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undated
An officer pushed for the urgent destruction or disposal of what was believed to be the Aeroton cocaine exhibits before FSL testing was complete. The stated justification was that the defence in any prosecution could request to physically inspect the exhibits during trial. Requests for FSL to advise on destruction procedure were made. This is the key misconduct allegation for Heist 2.
stated action: someone was pushing for the urgent destruction or disposal of what was believed to be Cocaine
reason for destruction timing: Reason being, throughout the court case, the Defence can ask to actually see these exhibits