Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Felix Mpangase faced intense scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission as he defended his actions during the investigation of a significant cocaine seizure, raising questions about the integrity of police records.
Warrant Officer Mbongeleni Felix Mpangase came under sustained questioning at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Friday as commissioners accused him of making false or misleading entries in official records linked to the seizure of 27kg of cocaine.
Mpangase, who was attached to the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit in Durban during the June 2021 operation and is now investigating cold cases in Pietermaritzburg, denied deliberately misleading the commission, insisting that any omissions or inaccuracies in his statements were mistakes rather than intentional misrepresentations.
The afternoon session followed his earlier evidence in which he admitted he had no previous experience of large-scale container drug interceptions, despite being assigned to the June 2021 operation that uncovered the cocaine concealed in a shipping container.
The commission is investigating the disappearance of cocaine from the Hawks' evidence store in Port Shepstone after the drugs were seized at the CHS depot in Isipingo.
