Component Head for Serious Organised Crime at SAPS Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/ Hawks), Major General Hendrik Flynn testifies at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The sequence of events after the seizure of 541 bricks of cocaine valued at R200 million from a Durban depot in 2021 - culminating in the theft of drugs from the Hawks' storage facility in Port Shepstone - was "by design".
This was according to the testimony of Component Head for Serious Organised Crime at the Hawks, Major-General Hendrick Flynn, before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday.
Flynn expressed the view that the Port Shepstone drug heist was intentional, not accidental.
"I am of the view that it is not coincidence and that the sequence of events is indeed by design," he told the inquiry.
Flynn was responding to Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, who asked whether the events involving Hawks officers was merely a comedy of errors or if the plan from the start was to steal the drugs.
Madlanga said it was difficult to believe that one case could involve such a "comedy of errors".
He said that, according to Flynn’s evidence, the crime scene was handled improperly and not according to the prescribed procedures.
The commission heard that 547kg of mandrax had been stored at Isipingo Police Station’s SAP13 16 months earlier, yet suddenly there was insufficient space to store 541kg of cocaine.
Madlanga noted that as a result, the cocaine was taken to a DPCI storage facility in Port Shepstone. It was not stored at Maydon Wharf, Brighton Beach, Umbilo or Durban Central.
He expressed concern that Durban Central, the furthest of those options at 24km from Isipingo, was not used.
“There is no explanation why the Port Shepstone storage, which is 100km from Isipingo, was chosen,” Madlanga said.
According to Flynn’s testimony, KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major-General Lesetja Senona did not follow prescripts for handling the keys to the Port Shepstone warehouse where cocaine bricks went missing following a mysterious burglary in 2021.
Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa instructed that the exhibits be taken there following consultation with Senona, who also took charge of the warehouse keys, raising questions since he was not involved in operational matters.
According to Flynn, the SAP13 clerk is the only person allowed to access the storage facility.
Senona later handed the keys to a police officer identified as Warrant Officer Mpangase, giving him access to the vault to unseal the exhibits and obtain samples, according to Flynn.
During his testimony before the commission, Senona maintained that he took sufficient steps to secure the cocaine, stating he issued an instruction to monitor the facility.
Madlanga also noted that Port Shepstone lacked CCTV cameras and 24-hour guards, adding that even without those measures, the facility now held high-value cocaine.
Earlier Flynn testified that between November 6 and 8, 2021, the 541kg of cocaine seized on June 22, 2021 was stolen from the DPCI Port Shepstone strong room after entry was gained using a grinder.
“It is unclear when the theft occurred because the alarm system that was fitted at the premises was not working properly. In addition, there was no armed response service because the contract with the private security company was not renewed, having expired in March 2020. The alarm was also not maintained,” he said.
He said there is concern that four months after the seizure the cocaine had not yet been transferred to SAPS’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
He stated that the exhibits must be transferred to FSL immediately but no later than seven working days in exceptional circumstances.
He said a certain Colonel Jacob indicated that FSL told him that there was not enough space for the exhibits.
“This may well be what FSL communicated to the investigating officers when requests were made to FSL but I want to highlight the matter that casts doubts on the veracity of this version,” Flynn said.
He noted that on July 9, 2021 a few weeks after the 541kg cocaine seizure officials seized 700kg of cocaine in Aeroton, Johannesburg. The Aeroton cocaine exhibits were transferred to FSL on July 19, 2021, for analysis and storage.
“If FSL had capacity on July 19, 2021 to store 700 kilograms, it is unclear why it did not have capacity for 541 kilograms three weeks earlier or at any time before the November 2021 theft in Port Shepstone,” he said.
Flynn told the commission that the investigation made huge strides subsequent to his appointment in September 2024.
Flynn's testimony continues.
Cape Times