Police officers weigh pure cocaine seized at the Durban Harbour. South Africa is strategically situated in the world's key drug trafficking and smuggling routes.
South African authorities have warned that it would be impossible to inspect or search all cargo ships for possible drug trafficking and smuggling without severely disrupting legitimate export trade and national economic activity.
Security in the country’s seaports has come under scrutiny following evidence presented before the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry, revealing that these facilities are among the key routes in the smuggling of large consignments of drugs into the country.
The commission, headed by retired Constitutional Court Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, has heard testimony the theft of 541kg cocaine bricks with the street value of about R200 million at a storage facility a few months after being seized at the Durban Harbour in June 2021.
Also on the commission’s radar is another seizure in July 2021 of over 715kg of cocaine with a street value of R300m in Aeroton, Johannesburg, which led to accusations and counter- accusations among different law enforcement agencies as part of the operation.
