Case file · Drug seizures
The R200 million Durban port cocaine that vanished from police custody
How an estimated R200 million in cocaine, seized at South Africa's busiest port, disappeared from a police office that intelligence reports had flagged as unsafe years earlier - and the chain of officers the commission is now questioning.
What happened
In 2021, 541kg of cocaine seized at the Durban port was routed away from the forensic laboratory it was legally required to reach and into a Port Shepstone Hawks office that had already been robbed eight times. The drugs were stolen with a grinder over a weekend. The Madlanga Commission is now examining whether that was negligence or an inside job reaching up the KZN Hawks chain of command.
The Big Five cartelExplore the network →Chain of command
Who’s involved
Major General Lesetja Senona
Provincial Head, KZN Hawks (DPCI)
Top of the chain of command. Brigadier Nyuswa testified the move to Port Shepstone was ultimately authorised by Senona, who has since been suspended.
View full profile →Brigadier Campbell Nyuswa
Provincial Commander, Serious Organised Crime - KZN Hawks
Central figure. Witnesses testified he instructed subordinates to store the cocaine at the Port Shepstone office, and that he took both keys to the safe on arrival.
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Colonel Gavin Jacob
Commander, Durban Serious Organised Crime Unit - KZN Hawks
Testified the move was Nyuswa's direct order and that he waited for an armed escort. Under cross-examination the commission showed he had falsely claimed to have 'exhausted all avenues' for secure storage closer to Durban.
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Lieutenant Colonel Jakobus Prinsloo (retired)
Lieutenant Colonel (retired), KZN Hawks
Detailed the facility's security failures - no working electric fence in load shedding, no cameras, no alarm response, an unmanned reception - and confirmed he handed the safe keys directly to Nyuswa.
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Warrant Officer Karl Sander
Warrant Officer, KZN Hawks narcotics
Lowest in the chain. Falsely linked to the theft while on leave, forced onto a polygraph, then sidelined - and exonerated on the stand when the test was ruled invalid in his favour.
View full profile →Timeline
How the case unfolded
Robbed eight times
The Port Shepstone Hawks office is burgled eight separate times over a decade - three of them under the current leadership.
Warnings issued, then ignored
A 2017 directive bans high-value exhibits from the unit. A 2020 counter-intelligence memo warns management of no CCTV, no active guards, and no early-warning beams.
541kg seized at the Durban port
A major operation intercepts an estimated R200 million in cocaine as it enters through the port - roughly 25 suitcases' worth.
Routed to Port Shepstone, not the lab
On Nyuswa's instruction the consignment is taken about 100km to the flagged store instead of a forensic laboratory.
The grinder heist
With no cameras and the alarm not linked to armed response, intruders enter through windows, spend hours cutting the safe with a grinder, and take the entire haul. Five years on, no arrests have been made.
A whistleblower is sidelined
Sander, who had pressed for answers, is falsely implicated, polygraphed, and transferred out of narcotics work.
Exoneration, and a suspension
At the commission, Sander learns his withheld polygraph cleared him all along; KZN Hawks head Senona has by now been suspended.
From the record
In their own words
On the state of the storeroom
“When there was load shedding, the electric fence would not work. There were no cameras or beams outside the office. There was no alarm system. There was a reception and no one was at reception when there were 200 million rands worth of drugs in the building.”
The exoneration
CommissionerThe test was considered invalid so that the examinee was not prejudiced by the errors of the polygraph examiner. The examiner was stopped from conducting any further examinations.
CounselSo effectively the warrant officer was exonerated.
W/O SanderHe was, chief.
CommissionerWe are done with the witness. Warrant officer, you are excused.
Sources & updates
Where this comes from
- Daily Maverick - 'Whistleblower suspect broke silence' on R200m Port Shepstone cocaine theft (3 June 2026)
- IOL - Colonel Jacob says Hawks officials 'colluded with criminals' in R200m drug theft (3 June 2026)
- Mail & Guardian - Hawks boss Senona to face Madlanga commission (1 June 2026)
- Sowetan - Hawks officer accused of lying over R200m cocaine storage (4 June 2026)
- SMWX - Wild R200M Drug Bust, Madlanga Story (2 June 2026)
This case file summarises testimony and evidence presented on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as they were made at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person named.