Madlanga Commission hears explosive testimony on missing cocaine haul

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]All right. Now, former Interpol ambassador and security strategist Andy Mashel joins us now for more on today's proceedings at the Mlanga Commission. A very good evening to you, Dr. Mashal.

[00:00:10]Always a pleasure to have you on the show. So, Flynn completed his testimony today in giving his um evidence in chief and a lot has come out very concerning for many South Africans with regards to that particular 200 million rand worth drug bust. what really stood out for you in terms of this particular testimony especially in how the this consignment was handled?

[00:00:35]>> Good evening to you and to team Majestic your production team there. Um it was clear from the movements uh of the of that contraband h there was never an intention one to take it to a secure location. Two um for the fact that there were a polygraph test that were done and some people were excluded from that polygraph. It shows us that something is not in order um uh with regard to the sequence of events. It also h forces you to go into predictive analytics and they would say h given what has been happening in many other cases before the 200 um million rand worth of cocaine that disappeared. As we listened to um there have been proper documentation, a chain of custody um that was respected and the integrity there of finding itself or finding expression in the FSL and the subsequent prosecution that has happened. uh when you look at that pattern and you superimpose it on the drugs that got lost in terms of movement in terms of storage in terms of the people uh responsible or overseeing that process you realize ko that h yes there was no intention to h to keep them safe to keep them safe three there was an intention to make sure that they disappeared Yeah. Um I I would not be surprised if if they were found and and and those little pockets were were pierced with knives. You'd find something completely different from cocaine after the movements the up and down and many of these things that have been proven to have violated the chain of custod as per the regulations. M so from your experience Natasha when you look at the situation and just the sequence of events and and how Flynn is explaining how a lot of it was intentional is it that these drugs are intercepted at the port um and at that point those police officers have no idea that this bust is going to take place or do they already arrive there terminate the scene because already they know where this this consignment is intended to Um the drugs come from South America for for an example uh they find their way at the Debon port there or the Devon harbor already um there has been a communication intelligence between SAPs H DPCI and the country of origin of those drugs.

[00:03:45]Remember there's continuous intelligence sharing. So when the contraband arrives at that port of entry, h the police are there to ensure that they intercept whoever is dropping them off the um for purposes of arrest and prosecution.

[00:04:05]Already there are people who were expecting those drugs to be there and those people who were expecting those drugs to be there have their superiors who issue out commands and instruction.

[00:04:19]One with regard to securing them. Two with regards to storage. Three with regard to proper documentation. four with regards to ensuring that the investigating officers have the necessary um substance via the FSL obviously and what do I mean by that that contraband would have been taken to FSL for processing so that the investigators can then be certain that in the event that a suspect is arrested or there's tracking and tracing they would be having the correct substance called cocaine or identified um scientifically as cocaine and not just white powder. M so mashali speaking on FSL I mean today there's been a a bust of 13 million rands worth of of drugs at the at the Durban harour once again and in this particular case or rather in the case where Flynn is explaining to us um how these drugs and where they were going they were supposed to be taken as you're saying to Ptoria for them to be tested in that forensic lab we saw that a new forensic lab has has been established and launched in Kzn in in instances where we do have a bus such as that of today. Do you find that because we've got facilities that are now closer to the harbor, we now eliminating some of that which we're transporting drugs all the way from Kaden to >> the best would be number one to ensure that security around that FSL facility is top class. It's high-tech. Um you have better technology there. H you have better digital security eyes in the sky.

[00:06:05]Many of the gadgets and and and and techni and digital gadgets that would speak to the issue of safety and security 100% foolproof. Um you would be h it would be easy for you and prudent h for you to take them to that FSL facility. Obviously, after the proper audit, I'm certain that there were lessons that were learned and I'm definitely sure that the provincial commissioner of KZN would would have ensured that in this instance uh those drugs in his province are safe and secure and there is no intention uh by an individual to play a hero um keeping all things to himself and excluding all others in the value chain of custody.

[00:07:00]>> How critical is organizational security culture as well as staff training? I mean you talk about the lessons that need to have been learned. These facilities really need to be quite secure. How do we prevent insider threats and just ensuring adherence to security protocols?

[00:07:19]There is no such thing as 100% um security even in the cyber space as long as there is a human being there is always a risk or a threat to security breach or security breaches. And what do I mean by that? H we have listened to Flynn saying um there was no way in which there was negligence in the loss of those drugs. It was orchestrated that those drugs should disappear and the drugs cannot orchestrate amongst themselves as those number of packets to say we are disappearing before it we are going into the nearest township. No. And what would have happened would be those with the inside knowledge would share that knowledge with those who are um selling or wanting to sell those drugs and after selling those drugs. Obviously after that bear or after that makeshift or fake beggar those individuals would then share that split that money with the insiders. So when we want to deal with h that insider threat um one of the things that you do is you've had those individuals and people are subjected to security clearance and lifestyle audits continues especially for those in that space continue as if Christmas um won't come again and we would be doing um h that lifestyle audits and high-f flyier programs. Those who are in that space, obviously some of them have social media presence. You would need to have your your digital guys, your digital police in on um the social media post and checking if the lifestyle of those who are involved in this space um um is equal to h the income that they are getting or the salaries that they are getting. Should there be a deficit or should there be a gap, you would need um to uh begin to investigate so that uh some people do not fall by the wayside and go sideways against the law or divergent uh from the law.

[00:09:50]>> Certainly, Dr. Mashal, always a pleasure getting your insights on the happenings at the Matlanga Commission. Thank you so much for joining us and speaking to us this evening. That was Andy Mashala, security expert talking to us on Major General Flynn's testimony that concluded today.