Police were within their rights when they arrested two Scorpions members at Johannesburg International airport, a senior official said on Monday.
”In my view the police have done nothing wrong, I’m happy with their reactions. If they [Scorpions officers] come in and inform us, we will never frustrate anything they do,” said Sean Tshabalala, police divisional Commissioner for protection and security services.
”The police and the Scorpions are supposed to be partners in the fight against crime, but if they come into an area controlled by the police, they will have to inform us of their presence, and they didn’t do that in this case.”
He said the two did not have ”proper accreditation”.
Police arrested the two senior Scorpions investigators on Saturday for alleged involvement in a drug-smuggling syndicate at the airport.
Senior public prosecutor Wollie Wolmarans dismissed the case against the two for lack of evidence in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Wolmarans found that the two followed all procedures necessary for them to do their work, in that they announced themselves to the airport and customs officials and police.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) maintained that the two were pursuing a foreign national whom they believed to be in possession of drugs worth millions of rands.
NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said that as the investigators followed the suspect, they entered a restricted area at the airport.
”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 National Director of Public Prosecutions 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.” — Sapa