Two senior members of the Scorpions elite investigation unit have been arrested for alleged involvement in an international drugs syndicate, the Sunday Times has reported.
They were arrested at Johannesburg International airport during an undercover operation by the police’s crime intelligence unit.
According to the newspaper, while they claimed to be investigating drug-smuggling syndicates, police maintained they were members of a syndicate operating at the airport.
”They would have worked with the police service if they were conducting a genuine operation,” a police official told the Sunday Times.
The two allegedly failed to produce proof of their involvement in a legitimate operation, entered a restricted area without permission and failed to produce valid access cards.
Denying their involvement in drugs dealing, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy described the arrests as a misunderstanding that was being sorted out. — Sapa