Three cops were due to appear in the Somerset West Magistrates’ Court on Monday after they allegedly “kidnapped” a
poacher and made him offload his stash at one of their homes.
The three constables, aged between 28 and 30, are attached to the SAPS major offences reaction team, were arrested last Thursday when they reported for duty, says police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut.
The anti-corruption unit
conducted an investigation into the officers in connection with armed robbery, defeating the ends of justice, and kidnapping relating to an incident which took place on 21 July.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut.
“It is alleged that the
members, while performing their official duties in Somerset West, pulled over the driver of a minibus taxi who was illegally transporting poached abalone from Hermanus to Cape Town,” says Traut.
“One of the police members [allegedly] drove the taxi to his residence where the abalone was allegedly offloaded. The driver was dropped off not far from where he was kidnapped and instructed to go back to Hermanus.”
While walking towards Sir Lowry’s Pass, he discovered his vehicle without the abalone.
The matter was reported to police and the investigation led to the three officers, Traut said.
Western Cape acting police commissioner, Sindile Mfazi, welcomed the arrest, saying there was no space for crooks in SAPS: “The Western Cape community will only be served by honest and loyal police officers.”