Question NW1631 to the Minister of Police
13 June 2016 - NW1631
Mbhele, Mr ZN to ask the Minister of Police
What happens to drugs that are confiscated by the SA Police Service?
Reply:
Drugs confiscated by the South African Police Service (SAPS) are dealt with in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No 51 of 1977), Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 1995, (Act No 68 of 1995), National Instruction 1 of 2015: Crime Scene Management and Standing Order (General) 333, which prescribes the destruction process.
Drugs confiscated by SAPS are processed at the police station where it is packaged and sealed in the presence of the suspect, weighed and entered into the SAPS 13 Register.
All drugs, except Cannabis, are forwarded to SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for analysis, secure storage and destruction, whilst awaiting finalisation of the case and issuing of a relevant disposal order by the National Prosecuting Authority.
Cannabis is stored in the SAPS 13 Stores at police stations, awaiting finalisation of the case and the issuing of a disposal order by the National Prosecuting Authority.
Drugs are delivered to the FSL or collected by FSL members from crime scenes. It is then registered (allocated a unique laboratory number), assigned to an analyst and stored in the archiving storage after analysis.
After approval for destruction has been granted, drugs are destroyed according to relevant FSL Quality Management System destruction procedures.