Police officer caught red handed soliciting money from a drug dealer in Umbilo, Durban in KZN

In Umbilo, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a police officer was detained for reportedly asking a drug dealer for money.

A police officer and two other people were taken into custody as part of an operation to reduce crime in the Umbilo area.

KZN police claim that while the operation’s team was occupied on Noble Road in Umbilo, they observed suspicious activity between individuals inside a police car from Durban Central and a male civilian outside a building of apartments.

According to reports, the team kept watching the aforementioned activity. Unidentified man was spotted reaching through the glass into the police car’s front passenger seat and giving the passenger something.

The member in the passenger seat reportedly tossed something out the window when the team approached the abovementioned police car, according to KZN police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala.

The policeman, a 39-year-old Sergeant, was confronted and arrested for corruption and thwarting the course of justice after R200, the sum he is thought to have tossed down the drain, was found there, according to Gwala.

Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala said:

“The man who handed the money to the police was subsequently caught with drugs. The civilian was ordered to take the operational team to his apartment  where they found a second man. The flat was searched and police found pieces of  Cocaine and R7000-00 cash suspected to be the proceeds of crime.

“Two men, aged 52, were placed under arrest for possession of drugs. All the three suspects are due to appear before the Durban Magistrates Court on Monday, 18 July 2022.”

Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the commissioner of KZN Police, stated that although they frequently see videos, pictures, or information of police officers engaging in such criminal activities, they are sadly almost never able to establish that such police officers are actually involved in criminal activity.

The other two constables who were with the arrested police officer are very unlikely to escape punishment, according to the authorities. They will probably have to defend their deeds or omissions in the SAPS departmental process.