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All case files · Case file 07

The false compartment

Lomahasha Border Post, Eswatini · 17–18 July 2025

The record

Where
Lomahasha Border Post, Eswatini
When
17–18 July 2025
Quantity
337 kg
  • 264 kg methamphetamine
  • 64 kg crack cocaine
  • 8.8 kg heroin
Value
R101 531 921.04$5 640 662.28
Agencies
SAPS · PRM · SERNIC
Map of the Southern Route: from the Makran coast across the Indian Ocean to Tanzania and Mozambique, then by road and air into South Africa; the Atlantic cocaine vector; the outbound air vector to West Africa.The Lebombo corridor file — Badplaas, Mpumalanga, South Africa, 16 July 2023The region’s largest recorded seizure — Tanzania, 12–22 December 2023The Limpopo intercept — Limpopo, South Africa, 1 January 2024The Vilankulo seizure — Vilankulo, Mozambique, 5 March 2024The Delmas load — Delmas, South Africa, 10 October 2024The Beira landfall — Beira, Mozambique, 21 February 2025The false compartment — Lomahasha Border Post, Eswatini, 17–18 July 2025The outbound vector — Lagos, Nigeria — shipped from OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa, February 2024TPC headquarters — MaputoTANZANIAMOZAMBIQUESOUTH AFRICAMAKRAN COAST
On the route: Lomahasha

Five beats

How the case moved

The five beats of the public narrative. Agencies named; persons never.

  1. The TPC convenes

    November 2023: after Badplaas, the TPC convenes Eswatini, SERNIC and the DPCI in Maputo.

  2. Intelligence shared

    Sustained exchanges with Eswatini flag a syndicate collecting in Mozambique and staging through the kingdom.

  3. Movement tracked

    A targeted driver runs the collection route toward South Africa through Eswatini.

  4. Interdiction

    17–18 July 2025, Lomahasha Border Post: a false compartment — 264 kg of methamphetamine, 64 kg of crack cocaine, 8.8 kg of heroin.

  5. The network followed

    The money becomes the next target: financial investigation and asset recovery, the cell’s fourth line of work.

Outcome

337 kg of illicit drugs, valued at R101 531 921.04 — the Badplaas pattern intercepted two years on.

Gallery

Evidence

From the TPC’s public presentation. Faces are pixelated; plates, documents and signage are blurred. The redaction is the message.

  • Bricks of methamphetamine, crack cocaine and heroin from the false compartment, laid out on the ground
  • The opened panel of the false compartment behind the cab
  • Details withheld
    The intercepted truck at Lomahasha Border Post; windscreen disc blurred
  • The roof lining of the cab opened to show the concealment space behind it
  • The emptied cargo body with the compartment wall exposed
  • A second view of the Lomahasha bricks laid out for counting
  • Details withheld
    Opening the cargo body of the truck at Lomahasha; persons pixelated
  • The truck cab at Lomahasha, seen from the door
  • The open driver’s door of the Isuzu truck during the search
  • Details withheld
    The rear doors of the truck; the registration plate is blurred
  • Small sachets recovered at Lomahasha, laid out on the tarmac
  • Rand notes laid out in rows for counting beside the truck
  • Strips of banknotes recovered from the vehicle, laid on the tarmac
  • Bundles of banknotes from the cab, photographed on the tarmac
  • Cash recovered at Lomahasha, counted on a table
  • A gloved officer counts the notes recovered from the cab
  • US dollar notes and the bag they were carried in
  • Currency of several countries recovered with the consignment, sorted on a table

Next step

The network behind the record

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