Evidence presented at the Madlanga commission brought renewed scrutiny to the circumstances surrounding the theft of cocaine valued at R200 million from a police storage facility in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Hendrik Flynn, a Hawks Major-General and head of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit within the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, appeared before the commission in Pretoria on Tuesday.
His evidence focused on operational failures and questionable decisions that preceded the 2021 break-in at a Hawks facility in Port Shepstone.
The theft took place in November 2021, when suspects entered the exhibit storage facility through its windows and stole 541kg of cocaine.
The site’s alarm system was not operational at the time. A case of theft and business burglary was subsequently opened.
Major drug seizure in Durban
Flynn also revisited an earlier incident in July 2021 involving a significant drug seizure at the Durban harbour.
Law enforcment authorities intercepted a shipping container suspected of carrying illicit substances after receiving intelligence.
Border policing officials responded ahead of members of the South African Police Service, leading to the confiscation of approximately one tonne of narcotics, which were later transported to Maydon Wharf Police Station.
He testified that major transit points for drug trafficking typically include OR Tambo International Airport, Lebombo Border Post and the Durban harbour.
“Bulk trafficking through shipping containers is usually undertaken by sophisticated syndicates,” Flynn told the commission.
Port Shepstone cocaine theft
The cocaine later stolen in Port Shepstone was discovered in June 2021 at an Isipingo depot after intelligence pointed to a suspicious shipment.
Due to space constraints at Isipingo Police Station, the drugs – packed in 27 bags – were relocated to the Hawks’ Port Shepstone facility.
Flynn indicated that suspended provincial Hawks head Lesetja Senona assumed control of the storage keys when the drugs were booked in as exhibits, a move he suggested was inconsistent with standard procedures.
“By no means the provincial head,” Flynn continued.
He explained that responsibility for such facilities lies with a designated SAP13 clerk, who is solely authorised to access the vault.
“That maintains chain of custody and to ensure that if anything goes wrong, like exhibits going missing from that safe, that the SAP13 person will have to account for it,” the Hawks official said.
Breach of protocol in handling evidence
According to Flynn, further irregularities occurred when the vault was accessed on 23 and 24 June.
He testified that Senona handed the keys to warrant officer Mpangase, who was not authorised to manage the facility.
Flynn stressed that proper procedure requires evidence sealing to be conducted at the crime scene, not after storage.
“The register makes provision for the booking in and booking out of exhibits so here obviously the process was upside-down to say the least and it was never supposed to happen like that.
“If General Senona had proper control over the key, he was supposed to open that safe and not provide the key to anybody under his command.”
Flynn also questioned why police officers returned to the facility to collect samples of the drugs.
“Investigators are not scientists,” Flynn remarked, adding that he does not understand why his colleagues returned to the facility to collect samples.
“This is the only matter where such samples were obtained so I find it extremely strange why it would have been done differently now.
“The only conclusion I can come to is that it was never the intention to take this whole batch of exhibits to the forensic laboratory science.”
Organised crime and corruption Interlinked
Earlier, Flynn emphasised that organised crime and corruption, in both government and the private sector, were deeply interconnected.
“By the nature of organised crime, there needs to be enabling factors that allow organised crime to flourish.
“In order for that to happen, it is my experience that there is always an element of corruption involved in the perpetuating of these crimes.”
