The Hawks seized approximately 90 kilograms of suspected cocaine with a street value of R36 million at Durban Harbour on Saturday, 6 June 2026, after a customs official alerted investigators to suspicious packages concealed inside an excavator that had arrived from Brazil.
The vessel, the Neptune Ace Tokyo, docked at the Q and R Car Terminal carrying the excavator, which had originated from Santos, Brazil.
Members of the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau, operating under the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit, took over the scene from customs, as reported by The Witness.
The suspected cocaine was hidden within a panel leading to the excavator’s engine compartment.
How the Durban Harbour drug bust unfolded
Hawks acting KwaZulu-Natal provincial head Brigadier Zenobia Mulligan confirmed that customs officials identified the concealed packages during routine inspection of the imported excavator.
SANEB investigators conducted a thorough examination of the vehicle after taking charge of the scene, leading to the recovery of the suspicious packages.
The excavator had been shipped from Santos, a major Brazilian port city with a documented history of narcotics trafficking operations that use legitimate cargo shipments to move cocaine to international markets.
South Africa’s ports have increasingly featured in southern hemisphere drug smuggling routes.
No arrests have been made at the time of publication. The Hawks said investigations are ongoing, and the seized exhibits have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for chemical analysis to confirm the substance.
SANEB operates under a mandate that targets large-scale narcotics trafficking and the structures that enable it.
Drug trafficking through South African ports
The Durban Harbour bust comes as authorities are managing a separate and ongoing controversy over missing narcotics from a previous operation.
The Madlanga Commission is currently hearing testimony about R200 million worth of cocaine that disappeared from police custody in Port Shepstone.
Several senior Hawks officials have appeared before the commission in recent weeks, with testimony including claims that officers were following orders when evidence was moved.
The two cases are unrelated, but together they illustrate the scale of narcotics pressure on South Africa’s law enforcement infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal specifically.
Durban Harbour is one of the busiest ports in Africa and the primary gateway for containerised goods entering and leaving the southern African subcontinent.
What happens next
The Forensic Science Laboratory analysis will formally confirm whether the recovered substance is cocaine before charges can be laid. The Hawks have indicated that the investigation is active.
The origin and intended destination of the shipment, as well as the identities of any individuals connected to the concealment, remain under investigation.
