The case against two senior Scorpions investigators arrested on Saturday for alleged involvement in a drug-smuggling syndicate has been struck from the roll by the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court.
The case was dismissed on Monday by the senior public prosecutor for lack of evidence, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi.
“The NPA’s view is that the arrest was a result of a misunderstanding between the two and the police who arrested them on Saturday,” he said.
Senior public prosecutor Wollie Wolmarans found that the two followed all procedures necessary for them to do their work at the airport, in that they announced themselves to the airport officials, customs officials and police.
Sunday newspapers reported that the two investigators were arrested at Johannesburg International airport during an undercover operation by the police crime intelligence unit.
While they reportedly 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.
On Sunday, Nkosi described the reports as “misleading and sensationalist”.
“According to our information, the two were pursuing a foreign national whom they believed to be in possession of drugs worth millions of rands,” he said.
As they followed the suspect, they entered a restricted area at the airport and that led to their arrest, he said.
“The suspect the operatives were pursuing arrived on a flight that morning and was suspected of being in possession of a substantial amount of drugs. The operatives could not apprehend him as they were arrested instead.”
The suspect was allowed to leave the airport, said Nkosi. The two arrested Scorpions were later released on bail of R300 each.
The National Director of Public Prosecution and head of the NPA, Vusi Pikoli, is considering an investigation into possible obstruction of justice or defeating the ends of justice, said Nkosi.
He said: “We hope that today’s [Monday] dismissal of the case will dispel all the malicious rumours and innuendo suggesting that the two were suspected of being part of an international drugs syndicate.”