Community Safety
With reference to the article in Die Burger (page 4) on Monday 7 September 2020 titled “Police find dagga and tik in Swartland” (“Polisie kry dagga en tik in Swartland”):
- What is the nature and details of the standard operating procedures that inform operational task teams and the confiscation of illegal substances, (b) when, (c) where and (d) by whom will the confiscated illegal substances be destroyed?
The South African Police Service informed me as follows:
10 (a) Information received via intelligence sources and pro-active action are verified and operationalized. All substances confiscated and believed to be illegal are handed in at the policing precinct where the seizure took place. These substances are then forwarded to the provincial forensic laboratory to be analysed.
(b) Upon conclusion of court proceedings, the magistrate hearing the matter will make a decision on whether the accused may lawfully be in possession of such substance or whether the substances must be destroyed by the state.
(c) Illegal substances will be destroyed at the provincial laboratory.
(d) It will be destroyed under the supervision of a senior officer at the laboratory.
