- Police allegedly recovered 111.68kg of cannabis from a white Ford Ranger in Mpumalanga.
- The State argued the bakkie was used to transport the drugs and should be preserved for possible forfeiture.
- Judge Leso ruled prosecutors could not ignore an existing court order releasing the vehicle.
A white Ford Ranger allegedly used to transport more than 111kg of cannabis has become the centre of a significant asset forfeiture dispute after the High Court in Mpumalanga dismissed the State’s bid to keep the vehicle in its possession.
The National Director of Public Prosecutions approached the High Court in Mpumalanga seeking to preserve the Ford Ranger under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. Prosecutors argued the vehicle was not merely owned by a suspect but had been used to transport cannabis, making it liable for preservation and possible forfeiture.
The application followed a police operation in March during which officers allegedly found 56 rolls of cannabis weighing 111.68kg inside the bakkie. The drugs had an estimated street value of R330,000.
The Ford Ranger became the real target
Unlike the criminal prosecution, the case before the High Court focused on the vehicle itself. The State argued that the Ford Ranger was an instrumentality of drug trafficking because it played a direct role in transporting the cannabis.
Under POCA, property used to commit certain serious offences can be preserved by the High Court while prosecutors pursue forfeiture proceedings.
Judge JT Leso accepted that there were reasonable grounds to believe the vehicle had been used in the alleged offence, saying the evidence established a direct connection between the Ford Ranger and the transportation of the cannabis.
A release order changed everything
The preservation application was complicated by an earlier decision in the Magistrates’ Court. Shortly after the seizure, the vehicle’s owner applied for the Ford Ranger to be returned.
Prosecutors did not oppose that application, telling the court the bakkie was not required as evidence in the criminal case. The magistrate subsequently ordered its release.
Months later, the NDPP argued that the magistrate lacked jurisdiction to release property that could become the subject of preservation proceedings under POCA.
Judge Leso found that prosecutors could not simply treat the release order as invalid. The judgment held that court orders remain binding until they are set aside by a competent court, regardless of whether their legality is later challenged.
State criticised over disclosure
The court also found that the NDPP failed to disclose the earlier release order when it initially brought the preservation application on an ex parte basis.
Judge Leso said applicants seeking preservation orders have a strict duty to place all material facts before the court, particularly where another court has already made an order affecting the same property.
Although the Ford Ranger met the legal threshold to be considered property linked to the alleged cannabis trafficking, the procedural flaws proved fatal to the application. The High Court dismissed the State’s bid, leaving the earlier release order intact.
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