Legabe claims he was tortured to implicate police in R216m Port Shepstone cocaine heist

By Johnathan Paoli

Tshwane businessman and heist accused Lucas Legabe has claimed he was tortured after his arrest and pressured to implicate police officers in the theft of cocaine worth more than R200 million from a Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) storage facility in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.

Legabe appeared before the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he applied for bail through his lawyer, Hendrik Potgieter.

He faces charges of housebreaking and theft, as well as dealing in or possession of cocaine.

In his affidavit, Legabe alleged that he was tortured after his arrest on 7 August and forced to implicate police officers in the break-in.

“I was tortured to implicate police officers in the break in. I was in severe pain during the torture and denied knowledge of the crime alleged,” he said.

Legabe said details of the alleged torture would be provided to the South African