Warrant Officer Marumo Magane has told the Madlanga commission investigating the controversial 715kg Aeroton cocaine bust (worth R300-million) that he had no prior experience in handling major drug operations before the incident in July 2021.
Magane, commander of the Crime Information Management and Analysis Centre, testified at the commission on Tuesday.
Call for backup
He told the commission that the only operation he had previously participated in involved dagga and not hard narcotics.
He told the commission that on the day, traffic officer Mashaba contacted him requesting assistance and manpower to follow up on information about a truck allegedly transporting drugs.
Magane said he later met Mashaba and an informant identified as Itumeleng Nku, who informed them that a container allegedly transporting drugs had arrived on 8 July 2021.
Containers entering the country
According to Magane, the informant showed him and Mashaba a picture containing the truck’s registration number and the container number.
Magane further testified that Mashaba had explained that Nku, a former Transnet employee, would obtain information about containers entering the country.
However, he admitted that he did not fully interrogate where Nku had obtained the photographs showing the truck registration and container details.
“Officials eventually traced the truck to Yellow Jersey Company and when they found it they demanded that the truck be opened,” he said.
Commission chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga asked what their plan would have been had the container been opened at the scene.
“If drugs had been found, we would have cordoned off the scene and called in the K-9 unit to confirm that the contents were indeed drugs,” said Magane.
Truck escorted from Germiston to Aeroton
Despite their suspicions, Magane testified that he and Mashaba allowed the truck believed to be carrying an unknown quantity of drugs to continue travelling from Germiston to Aeroton in Johannesburg because they wanted to obtain permission from the container owner in Aeroton to open it and confirm whether it contained drugs.
The two officials are accused of escorting a consignment containing 715kg of cocaine from Germiston to Aeroton.
Magane acknowledged before the commission that it had been an oversight not to obtain a search warrant for the stationary truck at Yellow Jersey Company.
He also admitted that they did not think they were creating a risk that the drugs could be taken from them during the escort from Germiston to Johannesburg.
However, commissioner Sesi Baloyi said this was a badly planned thing because Magane had no business being there as he knows nothing about drug operations.
“You said you went to Scania to help; that is not true; you did not know that there were cameras at their head offices,” said Baloyi.
Magane said he had no intention of driving away from the scene before it was processed.
“I had no intentions of stealing the drugs. I am not lying to the commission,” said Magane.
‘Black bags fell out’
The commission was shown photographs allegedly taken by Magane during the operation. He testified that when they opened the truck doors, black bags fell out.
Earlier testimony by witness Col Francois Steyn alleged that Magane and Mashaba loaded the bags onto the back of a black bakkie.
Baloyi put two propositions to Magane regarding the handling of the operation and the possible contamination of the crime scene.
“You may have deliberately contaminated the scene by opening the truck doors, or alternatively you lacked experience in drug bust operations and therefore did not know how to properly manage the scene,” said Baloyi.
Magane rejected the first proposition, denying that he had intentionally contaminated the scene. However, he accepted the second proposition, telling the commission that he did not have sufficient experience in drug busts and was not properly equipped to manage the situation at the time.
Warrant Officer Marumo Magane
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- Warrant Officer Marumo Magane has told the Madlanga commission investigating the controversial 715kg Aeroton cocaine bust (worth R300-million) that he had no prior experience in handling major drug operations before the incident in July 2021.
- Magane, commander of the Crime Information Management and Analysis Centre, testified at the commission on Tuesday.
- Call for backup He told the commission that the only operation he had previously participated in involved dagga and not hard narcotics.
- He told the commission that on the day, traffic officer Mashaba contacted him requesting assistance and manpower to follow up on information about a truck allegedly transporting drugs.
- Magane said he later met Mashaba and an informant identified as Itumeleng Nku, who informed them that a container allegedly transporting drugs had arrived on 8 July 2021.
