Durban port cocaine busts net 90kg, 30 bricks in three days

The Durban port pipeline took another hit when SARS and the Hawks pulled 90 kilograms of suspected cocaine out of imported excavation equipment, then came back three days later with another 30 bricks at the same harbour. The seizures point to a route that keeps surfacing through Durban Harbour, but investigators have not yet shown a dismantled syndicate, only a series of sharp interdictions.

The first hit landed on 6 June 2026 during an early-morning targeted Customs and Excise operation at the Port of Durban. SARS said detector dogs alerted officials to suspicious parcels tucked inside two heavy-duty excavators imported from South America. The Hawks, working through SANEB, said the haul came to about 90 kilograms of suspected cocaine, with an estimated street value of R36 million.

That first seizure matters because of the concealment method. Excavators are not random cargo, and hiding drugs inside industrial machinery suggests a smuggling line that is willing to absorb the cost and complexity of moving bulky equipment through one of South Africa’s busiest ports. It also suggests organization. Someone had to source the machinery, load the packages, and push the shipment through a South America-to-Durban route that authorities have now flagged more than once.

For now, though, the criminal case is still at the evidence stage. The Hawks said no arrests had been made after the 90-kilogram seizure and that the investigation was ongoing. The seized exhibits were to be sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for chemical analysis, the step that confirms what is actually in the parcels before prosecutors can build a case around them.

Then came the second interception on 9 June 2026. SARS and the Hawks secured 30 bricks of cocaine at the same port after intelligence-led risk profiling flagged a container vessel originating from South America for inspection. SARS described it as another blow to drug trafficking at Durban port, and the timing made the pattern impossible to ignore: one major interdiction, then another, three days apart.

This was not Durban’s first cocaine run-in with South American supply lines either. In May 2026, authorities recovered cocaine worth about R13 million from a bus in a shipment from South America. In September 2025, SARS reported a Durban-area seizure worth about R56 million after a vessel was intercepted off the east coast of Durban.

Taken together, the busts show a port under sustained pressure from a Brazil-linked trafficking corridor. What authorities have proven so far is disruption, not collapse. The next real test is whether these three days produce arrests, or just another gap in a pipeline that keeps trying Durban Harbour.