The South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday heard how senior organised crime officers raided flats around Gauteng for drugs only to sell them to drug lords.

At one point, a man who had collected the drugs to sell for the officers was arrested by another police unit for drug possession, only to be released without any charges a day later.

This was the testimony of Norman Kokoeng, who told the court he was recruited by Senior Superintendent Dumisani Jwara.

"He called to say he was promoted from Vereeniging to a Senior Superintendent in the West Rand and suggested that he should de-register me as an informant in Vereeniging and register me as his informer in the West Rand... and told me not to worry as we will operate like we did in the Vaal," Kokoeng said.

Once this was done, they and other officers continued to raid residential flats in search for drugs.

"We usually found drugs, money and 419 scam documents... Depending on the amount of money, we sometimes took the cash only and left the drugs," he said.

It was after one of the raids that Kokoeng and another man identified only as Kenneth drove to a church in Mohlakeng, Randfontein, where Captain Victor Jwili gave them drugs including crack, cocaine, mandrax and ecstasy.

Jwili continued conducting the church choir while the two left with the drugs.

Kenneth was later arrested for drug possession, but released without charge a day later - leading to charges of defeating the ends of justice against the three senior police officers on trial.

Senior Superintendent Dumisani Jwara, 43, Captain Landro Mokgosani and Captain Victor Jwili, 38, have pleaded not guilty to 13 charges against them, among them drug dealing, fraud and theft. A fourth accused, Captain Sakhepi Caiphus Shange, died in police custody in July.


- SAPA

As this court case has dragged on - evidence has become less and less reliable - witness statements less and less convincing... and so much media and reporting

A top-secret file detailing Glenn Agliotti's alleged criminal activities - and containing records of his phone conversations with former police chief Jackie Selebi - has vanished from police crime intelligence headquarters.

And Commissioner Mark Henkel, the high-ranking official responsible for the safekeeping of all the police's crime intelligence files, is not afraid to express his disgust about the unexplained disappearance.

Henkel, the first currently serving police officer to take the stand against Selebi in his corruption trial, was visibly upset about the disappearance of the "Operation Chaser" file, which included a secret UK report that the State alleges Selebi showed Agliotti.

Describing how he had searched high and low for the file after being asked to hand it over to Selebi's prosecutors, Henkel stated: "Personally I felt very affronted... I was being asked questions about documents that should have been under my control.

"I even went so far as to consider launching a counter-intelligence investigation (into the disappearance of the file). But after I applied my mind, I realised that this would be contrary to the investigation launched by the Scorpions at the time."

Henkel came under fire from Selebi's advocate, Jaap Cilliers, who pointed out that a Captain Ntema had admitted in a sworn statement to signing the file out in April 2006 to assist an SA Revenue Service investigation. Ntema, however, claimed that he had returned it four months later.

Ntema claimed he had kept the file in a locked cabinet secured with steel bars, Cilliers said.

Denying that he had ever heard such claims from Ntema before, Henkel hit back by stating that when he was asked to find the "Operation Chaser" file earlier this year, "I immediately called the individuals (last in possession of the file) and they were in no position to explain where the file was. They were at a loss for words. I told them to look for the files. They are my files."

Henkel said he was eventually sent "a box with scraps of paper inside". "Up to today they have not returned those files to me. I have no idea where those files are," he said.

According to the State, the missing file contained:

# A 2004 letter from the United Kingdom customs office asking for information about Agliotti, who was described as "a well-known drug trafficker in the UK".

# Six UK reports containing references to Agliotti, detailing his trips to London, and containing allegations about his role in the transportation of drugs. It is the State's case that Selebi showed Agliotti one of these reports.

# Cellphone records obtained by crime intelligence officials following a request from UK authorities, which showed 57 calls made between Agliotti and Selebi over about seven weeks from July 1 to August 20 2004. The records indicated that 16 calls were made from Selebi to Agliotti and 41 from Agliotti to Selebi.

Cilliers yesterday maintained that Selebi vehemently denied ever showing any secret UK reports to Agliotti, who has testified that he gave the then national police commissioner more than R1 million in cash and gifts.

In his testimony on the UK report, Agliotti stated that Selebi "wanted to make me aware of the fact that the authorities in the UK were monitoring my movements, and he told me so.

"I said to him that I had nothing to worry about. It didn't concern me. He (Selebi) just said I was being monitored by the authorities... in the UK. I asked him for a copy of the document and he said I could not have a copy."

- The Star