Two police officers have been arrested for allegedly stealing large amounts of dagga. The pair were arrested in Durban on Monday by the Hawks.
Captain Edward Ngcobo‚ 57‚ and Sergeant Shannan Butting‚ 36‚ were granted bail of R800 each and are set to appear in court on July 7.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said it was embarrassing to arrest police officers for such offences.
“Not all officers are guilty of dealing with drugs but these arrests are an indication that we are committed to solving the issue of drugs in our country in light of Drug Awareness Week.”
Mulaudzi said officers had nabbed plenty of other suspects in the last few weeks for dealing in drugs.
“Just 3 weeks ago we caught a number of suspects for dealing with heroin and we arrested seven suspects during a drug raid in Pretoria on Monday for manufacturing methamphetamine (TIK) as well.”
He said the Hawks were collecting evidence daily to catch rouge police officers.
“We are not only targeting the runners of these operations but we are actually after the kingpins who are distributing these substances.”
The police officers have been suspended and will be facing disciplinary action‚ according to Brigadier Jay Naicker from the SAPS in Durban.