Allegation of ciggie graft by police
Vanessa Adriaanse, a 46-year-old woman from Grassy Park in Cape Town, is weighing her options after she was allegedly manhandled and, to her mind, wrongfully arrested by police inside her home on Saturday.
She also claimed that while being booked in at the police station, she witnessed police officers talking about dividing up confiscated illicit cigarettes among themselves.
At about 3pm on Saturday, Adriaanse went to buy airtime at a shop near her house. She found police officers arresting the two shopkeepers for selling illegal cigarettes. The officers told her to come back later. She then said to them: “Why don’t you arrest some real criminals for once?”
The comment was apparently rooted in Adriaanse’s frustration over many burglaries and petty thefts at her house in recent years. The police have apparently not solved these crimes.
The police officers became angry and confronted her. She decided to let it go and went back inside her house. Then four police officers, two of whom were not wearing masks, followed her, saying they were going to arrest her for “interfering in police business”.
Adriaanse said they grabbed her and hustled her towards a police van. At Grassy Park police station, she claimed the officers threatened her with a R5 000 fine and detention.
While at the station, she said a police officer walked in with one carton and six boxes of cigarettes. He allegedly told his colleagues they would divide them up later. Adriaanse took this to mean the police intended to keep the cigarettes for themselves, instead of booking them in as evidence.
She recognised the cigarettes as those confiscated from the shop, she said.
She was then locked up in a holding cell. The police released Adriaanse, apparently without charge, about three hours later.
The next day, Adriaanse, with the help of her employer, phoned the hotline for the Western Cape Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) to report a case of potential police corruption related to the officers’ alleged intention to take the cigarettes. An Ipid investigator asked her to open a case, which would then be referred to Ipid for investigation, Adriaanse said.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said “the circumstances of this incident are under investigation by police management”.
Adriaanse said she had not ruled out the possibility of opening a civil case of wrongful arrest against the police.
Knoetze is the Viewfinder
Republished from GroundUp editor of
Limpopo is slowly but surely turning into a playground for crime and a gateway for illicit cigarettes. Police in Limpopo recovered illicit cigarettes worth over R1 million in crime-infested Musina town, near the Beit Bridge border post, at the weekend.
The discovery was made during a joint operation conducted in the Musina policing area on Friday.
Spokesperson for the police in Limpopo, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said police, the South African National Defence Force and traffic officers received information about suspects transporting illicit cigarettes and immediately followed up.
He said a roadblock was set up and attempts were made to stop the vehicles coming from Tshipise in the direction of N1 road in the Vhembe region.
“The four vehicles, a Mazda sedan, Nissan paddle van, Toyota Quatum and a Chrysler SUV, were stopped at different intervals but a Nissan bakkie failed to stop in accordance with the officials’ signal.
“It sped off and turned into a nearby gravel road. A car chase ensued until the driver lost control and hit into a fence. The suspects then got out and ran into the bush,” said Mojapelo yesterday.
A Toyota Quntum also did not stop and both the driver and passenger jumped from the moving vehicle and escaped. “The vehicle hit a pole and came to a halt. A Mazda was seen making a U-turn in an attempt to evade arrest but police gave chase.
“The suspects abandoned the vehicle and also fled into the nearby bush. The last vehicle, the
Chrysler, was also abandoned.”
During the search, police discovered the following inside three of the vehicles: 57 boxes with 50 cartons in each box, 87 boxes of Remington Gold cigarettes with 21 cartons and two packets of 20 cigarettes, 15 boxes with 47 cartons and seven packets.
The value of the recovered cigarettes, according to Mojapelo, was estimated at R1.4 million. He said the fourth vehicle (the Chrysler) did not have cigarettes in it, but it was suspected to be stolen.
The origin and destination of the recovered properties would be determined in the ongoing investigation.
Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant-General Nneke Ledwaba commended the members for their vigilance and commitment which resulted in the confiscation of the illicit cigarettes and the vehicles.
He urged anyone with information that might lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact Colonel Mamuhoyi on 082-414-6683 or to telephone crime stop on 0860010111.
–