Madlanga commission hears details of R200m Port Shepstone cocaine theft

What was presented at the commission

On Tuesday, Hawks Major‑General Hendrik Flynn, head of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit within the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, gave evidence in Pretoria about operational failures and questionable decisions that preceded the break‑in at a Hawks facility in Port Shepstone.

The theft took place in November 2021 when suspects entered the exhibit storage facility through 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 opened.

Earlier seizures and movement of the drugs

Flynn revisited a separate incident in June 2021, when the cocaine had been discovered at an Isipingo depot after intelligence pointed to a suspicious shipment. Because of space constraints at Isipingo Police Station, the drugs packed in 27 bags were relocated to the Hawks’ Port Shepstone facility.

He also referred to a July 2021 seizure at the Durban harbour in which law enforcement intercepted a shipping container suspected of carrying illicit substances; those narcotics were later transported to Maydon Wharf Police Station.

Alleged procedural breaches in evidence handling

Flynn told the commission that suspended provincial Hawks head Lesetja Senona assumed control of the storage keys when the drugs were booked in as exhibits, a step Flynn suggested was inconsistent with standard procedures.

He explained that responsibility for such facilities ordinarily lies with a designated SAP13 clerk, who is solely authorised to access the vault to maintain chain of custody. Flynn said the vault was accessed on 23 and 24 June when Senona handed keys to Warrant Officer Mpangase, who Flynn said was not authorised to manage the facility.

“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,” Flynn told the commission.

He added:

“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.”

Questions about sampling and forensic procedure

Flynn questioned why police officers returned to the facility to collect samples of the drugs, saying investigators are not scientists and that evidence sealing should be done at the crime scene, not after storage. He described the sampling in this matter as “extremely strange” and said,

“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

Earlier in his testimony Flynn emphasised that organised crime and corruption in government and the private sector were interlinked. He told the commission:

“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.”

Flynn also identified major transit points for drug trafficking, noting that bulk trafficking through shipping containers is usually undertaken by sophisticated syndicates and citing OR Tambo International Airport, Lebombo Border Post and the Durban harbour as typical transit nodes.