A Hawks warrant officer told the Madlanga commission of inquiry on Friday that Lt-Col Gavin Jacob did not call on specialist narcotics investigators for a 2021 container drug interception, despite experienced teams being available.
Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Mpangase, who was attached to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit in Durban at the time, was giving evidence before the commission investigating the theft of cocaine from the Hawks’ evidence store in Port Shepstone following the June 2021 seizure of 541kg of cocaine.
Reading from his affidavit, Mpangase said Jacob contacted him after Crime Intelligence received information about a container believed to be carrying cocaine at the CHS depot in Isipingo and asked whether he was available to assist with the operation.
“I requested that Lt-Col Jacob also attend, as the Crime Intelligence operative was his, and I had no prior experience attending to such information,” Mpangase said.
“I stated that the information required someone who was experienced and well-versed in these types of operations.”
Trust in Jacob’s expertise
Mpangase told the commission he agreed to participate because Jacob would be leading the operation.
“The only reason I took part in this covert operation is that I was requested to assist, and I personally wanted to learn from Lieutenant Colonel Jacob how to manage these types of operations from start to finish,” he said.
According to Mpangase, Jacob agreed to join the operation after booking himself on duty and later assigned him the role of taking notes during the search while other officers photographed the container and its contents.
The team discovered 27 black canvas bags inside the container, each containing bricks of a substance suspected to be cocaine wrapped in yellow and black plastic bearing Jaguar and Tich emblems.
Why deploy rookies?
Commission chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga questioned why officers without experience in large-scale container drug interceptions had been deployed when specialist narcotics investigators were available.
Asked whether dedicated narcotics investigators were on duty that morning, Mpangase replied: “There were.”
He identified two specialist teams led by Cpt Mbele and Lt-Col Moodley.
When asked why Jacob had not called those officers, Mpangase replied by saying “the reason which I could recall, Jacob was not on good terms with both groups.”
Madlanga also questioned why Jacob had called Mpangase instead of members within his own unit who specialised in narcotics investigations.
Jacob’s credentials questioned
Commissioner Sesi Baloyi challenged Jacob’s earlier evidence that described Mpangase as an experienced drug investigator, asking how Jacob could assess his experience if they had not previously worked together on such operations.
Mpangase said Jacob knew him because they worked in the same office, although in different sections.
He later clarified that while he had more than 10 years’ experience investigating drug offences, his work had mainly involved undercover buy-and-bust operations targeting street-level dealers rather than large-scale container interceptions.
“I have never attended a drug interception of this magnitude from start to finish, either at the harbour or container terminal,” he said.
READ MORE: Police colonel Gavin Jacob denies involvement in R200m missing cocaine consignment
- Lt-Col Gavin Jacob did not involve specialist narcotics teams in a 2021 cocaine container interception, despite their availability.
- Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Mpangase, with mostly street-level drug enforcement experience, was called in to assist and document the operation.
- The operation uncovered 27 bags of suspected cocaine, but the deployment of less experienced officers raised questions.
- Commission chair Mbuyiseli Madlanga highlighted Jacob’s strained relations with specialist units as a reason for not involving them.
- Jacob’s credentials and his decision-making during the operation were challenged due to his lack of collaboration with experienced narcotics investigators.
