KOMATIPOORT – A police constable, SARS customs official and taxi driver were arrested at the Lebombo Border Post early this morning for allegedly dealing in drugs.
According to the police’s provincial spokesman, Col Leonard Hlathi, the estimated street value of the cocaine is more than R3 million.
“We were working on information that a taxi travelling from Mozambique into South Africa, was carrying drugs. So it happened that when it arrived at the Lebombo border last night at about 21:00, the driver went to the office to stamp his passport. When he returned, he found a policeman searching his taxi. It was at this time that this officer found a package at the back of the vehicle, which was starched inside a washing-powder bag,” explained Hlathi.
It is alleged that the officer then stopped searching the taxi and left with the package. According to Hlathi, the officer then called his friend who worked at SARS customs, who happened to be off duty.
“He called the off-duty SARS official who worked with him at the Lebombo Border Post and it was suspicious because we don’t work like that. A policeman is suppose to have his companions to search a kombi or any other form of transport. They should be in pairs, but this one went alone in this case.
“What was further suspect was that when he found this package, instead of handing it over to the relevant officials so that the relevant administration could take place, he handed it over to somebody who was from another department and it so happened that that person was off duty,” he said.
These actions prompted an investigation from the police which revealed that the package had been moved to the SARS official’s house.
“The short probe we conducted revealed that the drugs had been moved to the official’s home. We then went to search the house, and the stories the two gave were conflicting. Therefore both these officials were arrested, together with the taxi driver,” added Hlathi.
All three suspects were arrested at the border post and transported to Komatipoort Police Station, where they would remain in police custody, and this was where the drugs were being kept.
Hlathi added, “All police officers who are found to be involved in such acts, will be arrested. And we thank community members who come forward with valuable information.”
Furthermore, he explained that disciplinary action against the officer would begin which would decide as to whether the police officer remained part of the SAPS. This would be decided by the provincial commissioner.
