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| A Cape Town police officer was arrested for dealing in Mandrax and other drugs in March 2024. (Photo: South African Police Service) |
Three Cape Town police officers, including a member stationed at the Anti-Gang Unit, have been arrested for possible criminal and cop collusion. The crackdowns occurred over two days, with one involved police investigators using cellphone records to pinpoint where two colleagues were at the time of crimes. The other two officers were taken into custody in connection with an abalone truck hijacking.
The incident occurred nearly two years ago when a truck was transporting abalone worth R500,000 from the Buffelsjag Abalone Farm in Bredasdorp. Two marked police vehicles approached the truck from behind, confronting the truck driver and its crew. Two firearms, a rifle and handgun, were taken from the possession of the one crew member of the truck. The driver was put in the back of one of the police vehicles, while his passengers were placed in the back of the other police vehicle and driven away from the scene.
Police started investigating a hijacking case, and it was found that the two police vehicles that had approached the truck were allegedly used by members of Operation Restore. According to a 2022 SAPS press release, Operation Restore was an initiative to address crime in identified areas. Both vehicles' aerial vehicle location (AVLs) placed the vehicles at different crime scenes.
Operation Restore, which it appears the two officers were part of, continues in the Western Cape. This could mean that the two arrested officers, following the truck hijacking in 2022, could have been involved in subsequent police crime-fighting operations, despite the fact they may have been involved in crimes themselves.
The ambushing of trucks transporting abalone has happened previously in the Western Cape, and police officers have also been arrested for abalone-related crimes. On Saturday, 2 March 2024, Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, speaking about the two latest arrests, said corruption would not be tolerated.
Another police officer was taken into custody earlier that morning after a tipoff was received about possible illegal firearms being transported in a taxi in Beaufort West. Officers in Beaufort West identified a white Toyota Verso taxi, which was being driven to the town of Murraysburg, and stopped it along the N1. When the taxi was searched, drugs, including 1,006 full Mandrax tablets, 11 half tablets, 16 quarter dagga tables, and 502 grams of tik, were found in the driver's backpack. The 44-year-old male suspect, who happens to be a SAPS member and stationed in the Cape Town suburb of Diep River, was arrested for dealing in drugs.
The incident occurred nearly two years ago when a truck was transporting abalone worth R500,000 from the Buffelsjag Abalone Farm in Bredasdorp. Two marked police vehicles approached the truck from behind, confronting the truck driver and its crew. Two firearms, a rifle and handgun, were taken from the possession of the one crew member of the truck. The driver was put in the back of one of the police vehicles, while his passengers were placed in the back of the other police vehicle and driven away from the scene.
Police started investigating a hijacking case, and it was found that the two police vehicles that had approached the truck were allegedly used by members of Operation Restore. According to a 2022 SAPS press release, Operation Restore was an initiative to address crime in identified areas. Both vehicles' aerial vehicle location (AVLs) placed the vehicles at different crime scenes.
Operation Restore, which it appears the two officers were part of, continues in the Western Cape. This could mean that the two arrested officers, following the truck hijacking in 2022, could have been involved in subsequent police crime-fighting operations, despite the fact they may have been involved in crimes themselves.
The ambushing of trucks transporting abalone has happened previously in the Western Cape, and police officers have also been arrested for abalone-related crimes. On Saturday, 2 March 2024, Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, speaking about the two latest arrests, said corruption would not be tolerated.
Another police officer was taken into custody earlier that morning after a tipoff was received about possible illegal firearms being transported in a taxi in Beaufort West. Officers in Beaufort West identified a white Toyota Verso taxi, which was being driven to the town of Murraysburg, and stopped it along the N1. When the taxi was searched, drugs, including 1,006 full Mandrax tablets, 11 half tablets, 16 quarter dagga tables, and 502 grams of tik, were found in the driver's backpack. The 44-year-old male suspect, who happens to be a SAPS member and stationed in the Cape Town suburb of Diep River, was arrested for dealing in drugs.
