Lying below 3,669 other containers on the MSC Spain were hundreds of neatly vacuum-packed 1kg bricks of cocaine – complete with branding and logos – but instead of reaching their intended destination, the bricks were intercepted in Port Elizabeth.
A massive operation involving specialised police unit the Hawks, Port Elizabeth Serious Organised Crime Investigations, border police, the K9 unit and other law enforcement units netted an estimated R720m worth of cocaine on Monday when the vessel docked at the Port of Ngqura to offload other containers.
The drugs – from Brazil – were en route to Singapore and India.
The bust, ranked as the largest uncut cocaine bust in South Africa over the past year, came after a tip-off from Interpol in December.
In total, 706kg of cocaine, all vacuumed-packed and plastic wrapped, were recovered inside a container on the vessel.
The professionally wrapped 1kg packages either had a blue background with white printing simply reading “Choelo” or a logo of a colourful hand and the word “Fatima” printed on them.
After the bust, the cocaine bundles were sent, sealed in evidence packets, to a secure location for safekeeping.
Port captain Thulani Dubeko said police had contacted the port asking officials to keep track of the MSC Spain.
“When it docked we alerted the police and they did their thing,” he said.
Dubeko said the vessel docked at the port at about 2am on Monday and was destined to leave by Tuesday afternoon.
“The search and confiscation has not hampered the movement of the vessel in any way and it is keeping to its schedule,” he said.
Dubeko confirmed that the MSC Spain would next be heading to Singapore and then India – without the drug shipment.
Asked about the manifest and what the container claimed to be carrying, Dubeko said investigators were not privy to the manifest as the cargo was not destined for South Africa.
During a briefing at the police office in Struandale, Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya said they had been alerted to the drugs on board the MSC Spain on December 27 and had been monitoring the vessel over the past 12 days.
“When it docked we began the search.
“Several role-players and various units were involved, including customs and SA Revenue Service,” he said.
“The ship was scheduled to stop off here to do a drop-off of other containers and also to load some others on.”
After several hours of searching on Monday, the container was found on the sixth floor below deck.
“It was right at the bottom of the vessel, below some 3,669 other containers.
“The way in which it was hidden and placed right at the bottom of the vessel just shows how these cartels were so determined and organised to get their drugs into another country,” he said.
“The crooks were determined to ensure that no-one would detect this [the drugs].
“It was designed to evade detection.
“You can imagine that this detection requires intense labour and is very time-consuming.”
Lebeya said while no arrests had been made, the authorities would continue to work with Interpol as the investigation proceeded.
“The cargo was going to Singapore and then its final destination, which is India.
“This cargo was clandestinely loaded into the ship in Brazil.
“When it landed in SA waters, we came in. This type of crime is a transnational crime and is very organised.”
Lebeya said the MSC Spain would not be detained and detectives were liaising with police officials in the other countries.
He said the street value of the drugs could have built a small village.
“This money is what would have been wasted [by drug users]. Those who would have been happy about this are the cartels, as they benefit financially while the community will suffer,” he said.
“When dealing with cartels, it is important to note that money is the important commodity. Profit motive is what drives them.
“In dismantling the business we do not only sever the demand and supply, but also prosecute the perpetrators and target their profits.”
This is not the first bust involving drugs loaded onto ships from Brazil and then sent through South African ports in the past few months.
In June 2018, Namibian Grant Noble, 36, and South African Dinath Azhar, 62, were arrested in Namibia after a container with 412kg of cocaine was seized.
It is alleged that the container was dispatched from Brazil via Cape Town and then to its end destination in Walvis Bay.
A month later, the Hawks found a state-of-the-art underground mandrax-manufacturing lab in Harding, KwaZuluNatal.
Police minister Bheki Cele said the mandrax and lab equipment valued at nearly R250m were also seized.
The latest bust is also similar to one that took place in 2010 when R400m worth of cocaine was found sealed inside the frame of a shipping container.
That operation also followed a tip-off from Interpol and saw the container seized at the Port of Ngqura.
In the 2010 bust, former Cuban spy Nelson Yester-Garrido – who is believed to have been linked to the drug trade network involving convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti – was arrested at his Hyde Park, Johannesburg, home.
Charges against Yester-Garrido were later withdrawn following numerous delays in the case.