Cop stole confiscated contraband cigarettes
By Hendrick Mphande
Source: The Herald Online
A POLICE inspector and his wife were among six people who pleaded guilty yesterday to the theft of boxes of contraband cigarettes seized by police which were destined to be destroyed.
Appearing before Port Elizabeth magistrate Josua Richter were inspector James Aylward, 39, and his wife Marlene, 39, of Young Park, Evertt Classen, of Sidwell, Peter Smith, 49, of Barends Street, Salt Lake, Andre Titus, 26, of St Albans prison and Jan van der Westhuizen, 26, of Silva Crescent, Linton Grange .
They all pleaded guilty to the theft charge and sentence was reserved for next month.
Aylward, who has been in the police force for almost 21 years, is attached to the SAPS Greenbushes vehicle pound unit.
Smith works for the SAPS garage, also in Greenbushes.
Their court appearance stemmed from the theft of boxes of tobacco valued at between R4 000 and R45 000.
The six accused admitted to stealing the boxes from the back of a police van while officials were preparing burn them at Greenbushes.
Prior to the incident, members of the police seized between two and three truckloads of illegal tobacco amounting to R8-million.
They were arrested on Tuesday and were released yesterday with a warning to appear for sentencing on June 26.
