Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

South Africa

South Africa, Maverick News

Ongoing cocaine Crime Intelligence scandal fuels suspicions of police involvement in global drug trafficking

Ongoing cocaine Crime Intelligence scandal fuels suspicions of police involvement in global drug trafficking
Aside from cars and cocaine, R60,000 cash was also seized in the July 2021 drug interception in Johannesburg. (Photo: South African Police Service)
Caryn Dolley
By Caryn Dolley
26 Mar 2025
Facebook
3
In 2021 cocaine worth R200-million was intercepted in Johannesburg. According to the police, fellow cops were implicated. The situation escalated and now points to deep divides in Crime Intelligence and suspicions of drug trafficking police officers with ties to Brazil.

Cocaine smuggled from Brazil and worth more than R200-million was intercepted in Johannesburg four years ago — a case now sparking fresh suspicions of police collusion and exposing divisions in Crime Intelligence.

There are two main versions about this 2021 drug bust.

One is that individuals including police officers allegedly hijacked a truck transporting the cocaine and tried to “flee” with the consignment, while the second is that officers legitimately intercepted the truck and other police interfered with them.

Both scenarios portray police officers badly and tie into long-running suspicions that certain police are working with narcotraffickers.

Beyond those suspicions, drug smuggling in South Africa persists.

About two weeks ago police officers followed up on information about cocaine being moved from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng — the same route the 2021 consignment took — and arrested two suspects and seized more than R1-million of the drug.

Under investigation


This week the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed to Daily Maverick that the 2021 matter, previously the focus of a court case that was withdrawn, had not yet concluded.

“The NPA gave instructions for further investigations, and once complied with the docket will be brought back to us for a decision,” said Gauteng NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.

This means that the case can potentially be reinstated and that the police are not yet in the clear.

Read more: Blood ties: South Africa caught in a web of murderous, drug-smuggling Brazilian gangs

Replying to Daily Maverick’s questions about drug trafficking suspicions, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s spokesperson Kamogelo Mogotsi on Wednesday 26 March 2025 said: “It is quite unfortunate that there are a few police officers who disregard their constitutional obligations and who violate their oath of office. 

“There have been a number of reports alluding to the involvement of police officers; in such instances, the necessary investigations are conducted.”

The 2021 cocaine scandal, meanwhile, has exposed deeper tensions in the already divided South African Police Service (SAPS).

Cocaine and Crime Intelligence


Among the officers embroiled in the mess are Major-General Feroz Khan, who heads Counter and Security Intelligence and whose name has before cropped up in some controversies, and his boss, national Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo.

Khan accused Khumalo of using the cocaine bust of four years ago to try to get rid of him because of his investigations into issues including nepotism and the abuse of secret service funds, which has before caused chaos in Crime Intelligence.

Former boss of the unit Richard Mdluli, now a convicted criminal, still stands accused of looting a secret account and is set to go on trial next month.

In the Khan saga, Khumalo and police bosses denied that he was being dubiously targeted.

Underpinning that situation are cocaine incidents that together suggest some of South Africa’s police may be involved in drug deals tied to Brazil.

Read more: Connecting the global drug trafficking dots — Durban and Dubai linked to cocaine smuggling ‘supercartel’

Daily Maverick has reported extensively on cocaine smuggling between the two countries and how narcotraffickers seem to prefer the Port of Durban when pushing drugs into and through South Africa.

The cocaine that sparked the intense ructions in the SAPS was intercepted on 9 July 2021 — coincidentally when riots started up after former president Jacob Zuma was temporarily jailed.

That deadly civil unrest exposed intelligence and policing failures in the country.

Version one — official SAPS stance


As for the 9 July 2021 cocaine interception, this is the official SAPS version as initially presented to the public.

On that day, the police issued a press statement saying that cocaine worth R200-million had been discovered when officers responded to the suspected hijacking of a cargo truck at a business in Aeroton, an industrial area in Johannesburg.

It was alleged the truck had been followed while it was being driven from Durban Harbour, and that at the Aeroton warehouse those who had followed it removed the cocaine from the truck and loaded it on to a bakkie.

When police arrived at the warehouse, they saw a black Nissan bakkie parked there — and it allegedly contained big bags of cocaine.

“On-duty police officials intercepted the suspects’ vehicle as they were about to flee the scene… 

Three state vehicles were seized during a cocaine interception in Johannesburg in July 2021 that saw accusations arise that the police were involved in drug trafficking. (Photo: South African Police Service)



“Upon interviewing the driver of the bakkie, it was discovered that he is a police warrant officer attached to Zonkezizwe Police Station and that the bakkie is a State vehicle,” the SAPS statement said.

“He was placed under arrest on the scene together with his three accomplices, another police warrant officer attached to National Investigative Unit, a Gauteng chief traffic officer and a civilian.”

Apart from R60,000 cash and four vehicles, including three from the state, 552 bricks of cocaine were seized.

The four arrested men were (according to their lawyer): Warrant Officer Marumo Mogana, a Crime Intelligence officer; Warrant Officer Steve Pakula, an Organised Crime Unit member; Samuel Mashaba who was acting deputy director of Gauteng’s community safety department; and businessman Tumelo Nku.

Khan’s corroboration — ‘smuggler cop suspicions’


Khan’s version of events aligns with the official police press statement and is outlined in a Johannesburg labour court judgment from December.

In that court matter linked to the cocaine interception, Khan was successful in preventing an expeditious disciplinary process, basically a condensed form of a usual disciplinary procedure, being held against him.

He was the applicant in the case and the four respondents were Khumalo, Mchunu, national police commissioner Fannie Masemola and the SAPS.

The judgment said that on the day of the cocaine interception, a fellow police officer had called Khan who went to the Aeroton scene.

“He allegedly uncovered the commission of a crime involving the smuggling or the transportation of drugs involving senior police officials,” it said.

The officers were arrested. Khan said he was not present when this happened.

According to the judgment, when the police officers were charged, Khan was asked to give an affidavit, which he did.

“He also consulted with the State attorney who was responsible for prosecuting the police officers,” it said.

Version 2 — the ex-accused’s account


Johan Eksteen of BDK Attorneys legally represented the four suspects — Mogana, Pakula, Mashaba and Nku.

A BDK Attorney’s statement on the case said that three of them — Mogana, Pakula and Mashaba — were following up on information about the transportation of drugs from Durban Harbour.

They managed to spot and follow the truck to the Aeroton premises where they explained their presence, saying the container being transported was allegedly concealing drugs.

According to the BDK statement, the truck driver allowed them to search it, and they found “numerous black bags” that fitted the information they had received about drugs being concealed.

“While still busy on the premises, police officers (from the Johannesburg suburb of Booysens) arrived, and an altercation broke out,” it said. 

“Several other police members from different units also arrived and informed our clients that they had received a complaint of an alleged truck hijacking. Our clients identified themselves to all of the police officials.”

The statement alleged that Khan arrived later and despite the four men’s explanations as to why they were there, instructed Hawks officers to arrest them.

Fast-forward to October 2022, and the case against the four was withdrawn.



Last week Eksteen told Daily Maverick this was because he submitted representation to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) “and the NDPP’s office by the late Advocate Rodney de Kock declined prosecutions against them as it was clear that there were no prospects of a successful prosecution”.

Eksteen said he had not been informed of any renewed charges in the matter.

Based on what the prosecuting authority has since said, though, the case against his now former clients could still be reinstated.

News24’s Kyle Cowan recently reported that an analysis of cellphones seized during the 2021 cocaine interception allegedly showed that two individuals were “in direct communication with an East Rand businessman who appears to have been the middleman between a drug operation in Brazil and local operations”.

‘Secret fund abuse and nepotism’


Back to Khan and his version of events as outlined in the Johannesburg labour court judgment.

It said that Khan “spent hours consulting” with the State advocate involved in the matter to try to have the cocaine case reinstated.

The tables later turned.

On 6 June 2023, Khan said he received a letter from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) asking him to make a warning statement, which suggested he was under investigation.

Khan made the statement.

A year after that, on 7 June 2024, Ipid recommended that disciplinary steps be taken against him and a few others who had been at the Aeroton scene. (Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping told Daily Maverick that its investigation had focused on Hawks members and defeating the ends of justice allegations.)

So, roughly three years after the cocaine interception, an expeditious process was set to be launched against Khan for allegedly defeating the ends of justice and bringing the SAPS into disrepute.

This is what saw him approaching the labour court. Khan’s stance was that he was being targeted.

“It is (his) version that, in terms of the disclosures (he made), he reported sensitive investigations about the possible involvement of his immediate commander, (Khumalo) in acts of criminality, abuse of secret service funds and nepotism,” the labour court judgment read.

‘Delayed reaction’


“(He) asserts that it was Lieutenant-General Khumalo who commissioned the investigation, which has now led to the expeditious hearing. 

“Khumalo has, according to (Khan), dug up the incident from over three years ago in order to secure his dismissal from the service.” 

But Khumalo and police bosses were of the view that even though the issues causing disciplinary proceedings against Khan related to 2021, “they only became aware of this incident and the subsequent investigations surrounding the incident on or about 10 July 2024”.

They also countered that Khan “never made a disclosure in terms of the Protected Disclosures Act”.

Khan was successful in the labour court in that the expeditious hearing to be held against him was converted to a normal one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaGf-UkLo_k

This month it emerged that he had been acquitted.

His lawyer Ian Small-Smith confirmed this to Daily Maverick.

The chairperson of Khan’s disciplinary was KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who is now under Ipid investigation for allegedly interfering with the arrest of a senior prison official in 2023.

That matter reportedly also relates to drugs.

Some in police circles suspect the accusation that sparked the probe into Mkhwanazi was politically motivated and may even tie into him having chaired the Khan matter.

Meanwhile, on the cocaine side of things, several questions still circle the July 2021 interception in Aeroton.

Half a billion rand drug stash


And it turns out that the Aeroton incident was not the only massive drug bust that month.

Three weeks after the controversial consignment was intercepted, cocaine worth R500,000,000 was seized at Durban harbour on 30 July 2021.

At the time, Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale said it was believed to be linked to the confiscated Aeroton cocaine.



“Investigations have revealed that the origin of all of these consignments is the Port of Santos in Brazil,” she said.

Border police officers’ initial investigations showed the “rip on/rip off” smuggling method was being used.

It usually involves corrupt workers at harbours tampering with cargo seals to secretly load drugs into containers at a departure port, and retrieve them at a destination port without the ship authorities, or those involved in importing or exporting the cargo, knowing.

R200m cocaine stolen from the police


A few months after the July 2021 interceptions, there was more unusual activity involving police and cocaine.

Apart from cars and cocaine, R60,000 cash was also seized in the July 2021 drug interception in Johannesburg. (Photo: South African Police Service)



Between the weekend of 5 and 8 November that year, the Hawks offices in Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal were burgled.

A Hawks statement said: “The suspects gained entry into the building by forcing open the windows. One of the safes in the office, which were used to store exhibits, was tampered with. 

“The suspects stole 541kg of cocaine drugs with the street value of R200,000 and ransacked the office where safes were kept.”

There were no arrests at the time.

Daily Maverick established there were deep suspicions that the burglary was an inside job.

It is understood the stolen cocaine had been confiscated on 22 June 2021, weeks before the controversial Aeroton crackdown, at a container depot in Isipingo in the south of Durban.

A police statement about the Isipingo case said 541kg of cocaine had been seized — which matches the weight of the subsequently stolen cocaine.

This week the SAPS referred Daily Maverick queries about possible police ties to drug trafficking to the Hawks.

Questions to the Hawks about the status of the 2021 Aeroton case and the stolen cocaine had not been answered by the time of publication. DM

Categories:

Tags: