Cops caught on camera
selling dagga, court hears
By RAY HARTLE on June
25, 2014
A POLICE undercover agent testified in the East London regional court
yesterday that he had bought dagga from two Mdantsane policemen in October
2012.
The undercover agent, identified in court only as Eric in order to
protect himself, said he was part of a police sting at a flat in Kimberley Road,
East London, where the two cops allegedly were caught on camera dealing in
dagga.
Before the court are Sianda Notatyi and Unathi Myoli, members of the
crime prevention unit in Mdantsane.
They are charged with drug trafficking involving 10 arms of dagga weighing
1.39kg in total. The sting was part of a wider police investigation, codenamed
Operation Cooler Bag, into allegations that police were peddling drug exhibits
recovered in unrelated busts.
The court has also heard evidence that an accused in a separate case, a
police reservist, was convicted in Mdantsane also as a result of Operation
Cooler Bag and is currently serving 15 years in jail.
Defence attorney Elias Makanya has submitted, however, that the
entrapment in the present case was not properly obtained and that it violated
the accused’s constitutional rights not to incriminate themselves.
Eric said he had worked to become friends with the two policemen,
introducing himself as a drug dealer.
By agreement, on October 23 2012, the two policemen came to the flat
where he was staying in Kimberley Road.
They arrived in a marked police vehicle and were wearing police jackets
at the time.
He said the flat had been set up for the sting operation, with a
motionactivated video camera recording what happened.
Eric carried a Spar grocery bag from the police vehicle up to his flat
but handed the bag to Myoli to carry into the flat itself in order for him to
be captured on camera.
Inside, Eric checked one of the arms, found the contents to be dagga,
and paid for the 10 arms of dagga at a cost of R100 per arm.
He said a police informer had also been present at the time.
Makanya told Eric that his clients were well-aware that he worked for
the police.
Makanya said a police reservist who worked with the accused at their
unit, was known to be Eric’s informer.
The accused’s version was that this informer was responsible for
bringing the dagga to Eric’s flat from Mdantsane and had asked the accused to
take him there.
Makanya said the accused had no knowledge that the bag contained dagga.
This was apparent from the video recording of Myoli’s surprised response when
Eric opened the dagga arm in the flat.
The trial has been postponed to September 29. —
