Colonel Gavin Jacob, commander of the Hawks’ Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, conceded that he lied about exhausting all avenues for storing 541kg of cocaine worth R200 million seized at the Durban Harbour in 2021.
The Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry has questioned the involvement of Colonel Gavin Jacob, the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit commander in Durban, in the disappearance of cocaine and mandrax exhibits in drugs-related cases.
On Friday, the commission chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, heard the evidence of senior KwaZulu-Natal Hawks officer Lieutenant-Colonel Kwazikwakhe Sibiya, who was testifying on his role in the seizure of 541kg of cocaine with a street value of around R200 million from the Durban Harbour in June 2021 and later stolen in Port Shepstone a few months later.
Commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC asked Sibiya about a case in which Jacob was the arresting officer, but it later transpired that there were no further exhibits in the docket in a case of possession of cocaine and mandrax.
“I’m trying to understand why this is something that (a Warrant Officer) Jooste will be charged and not, let’s say, Jacob, because he is mentioned here. On the reading of it, it seems to be an allegation is being made against Jacob that he took exhibits out and they never came back. Can you just explain that?” Baloyi asked.
