The anti-corruption unit in Polokwane has arrested three police officers for alleged corruption after the dagga they seized from a plantation vanished.
THE ANTI-corruption unit in Polokwane has arrested three police officers for alleged corruption after the dagga they seized from a plantation vanished.
The arrest of the trio follows an investigation by the anti-corruption unit, after a complaint was made, citing corrupt activities by the police officers.
Limpopo provincial spokesperson for the SA Police Service (SAPS), Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, said the three officers, who are aged between 29 and 39, were arrested on Monday in Polokwane.
“The trio is reported to be attached to the SAPS Limpopo highway patrol unit. According to the information, the suspects raided a dagga plantation at a plot in Dalmada, outside Polokwane, on July 16,” Ledwaba said.
“It is further alleged that the suspects seized eight bags of dagga worth R300,000, which were meant to be used for research purposes at the University of Limpopo. However, the said dagga was never booked at the exhibit store for investigation purposes.”
Additionally, it is also alleged that the dagga plants “were never returned to the plantation plot” as had been promised when the officers took them away.
Meanwhile, the provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, has welcomed the arrest of the three officers.
She said the arrest proves that no one is above the law.
“We are prepared to uproot corruption … even within our own ranks,” said Hadebe.
In April, a police captain who was travelling in a marked SAPS vehicle was arrested for allegedly trafficking dagga.
At the time, Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the captain was nabbed after being allegedly caught in the act.
“According to the report, on that day it is said that security guards were busy patrolling the premises at a certain plantation in Sabie when they noticed a police van in the bushes,” Mohlala said at the time.
“They (security guards) then went to check as to what was happening. To their surprise, the guards reportedly saw two males, one being a SAPS captain, though not wearing uniform at the time, while the other one was wearing a SAPS boiler suit (police reflective jacket).”
The captain was the driver of the SAPS service vehicle.
“It is further alleged that the two were in possession of some bags that were wrapped with tape. It is said that they were busy putting the luggage into some black refuse bags,” Mohlala said.
“The man wearing (a) boiler suit reportedly ran away upon noticing the guards, leaving behind the driver who is said to have also tried to escape with the police bakkie but the security officers used their bakkie to block him.”
The suspicious bags were then checked, and it was discovered that the content inside was dagga weighing 22.48kg with an estimated street value of R33,720.
