Madlanga Commission is expected to focus on the Gauteng R300 million Aeroton cocaine bust on Monday as it continues probing the handling, storage and theft of seized drugs by law enforcement agencies.
Hawks officer, Lt-Col. Nkoana JosephSebola, is expected to testify at 9:30am.
The commission will hear evidence relating to the July 2021 operation in Aeroton, Gauteng, where police intercepted a truck carrying 751 kilograms of cocaine allegedly shipped from Brazil.
The drugs had an estimated street value of R300 million.
The inquiry follows a week of testimony into the theft of seized narcotics and allegations of serious failures in the storage of drug evidence in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Commissioners have been examining two major cocaine cases that have raised concerns about accountability within law enforcement.
The first involves the Aeroton seizure, while the second centres on the theft of cocaine worth about R200 million from Hawks offices in Port Shepstone.
Last week, Colonel Gavin Jacob of the Serious Organised Crime Unit admitted there were discrepancies and contradictions in the handling of the Aeroton case.
He came under scrutiny over the decision to store the seized cocaine at a facility described as poorly secured, a move that has become a key focus of the commission’s investigation.
The inquiry is expected to further examine whether failures in the matter were intentional or not.
IOL Politics
Kamogelo Moichela
iol.co.za
