Cop guilty of tipping off criminals about planned police operations

A former Northern Cape SAPS officer has been found guilty of sharing confidential details of planned police operations with criminals.

On Tuesday, 42-year-old Sebastian Johnson was convicted of defeating the ends of justice in the Kimberley Regional Court.

Northern Cape Hawks spokesperson Captain Tebogo Thebe said Johnson’s illegal activities came to light in April 2021 after the Hawks conducted an operation to arrest members of a drug syndicate.

The team discovered confidential pictures of the planned operation’s documents on the cellphones of the arrested suspects.

Thebe said an investigation led them to a “Public Service Act (PSA) member attached to provincial Crime Intelligence”.

“Johnson, who was a South African Police Services (SAPS) employee at the time, was arrested after evidence obtained fingered him as the mole who worked with criminals by tipping them off on upcoming operations,” he said.

“He was dismissed after SAPS’s expedition disciplinary process took place in December 2021.”

The case was postponed to 1 June 2023 for sentencing.

Source: https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/former-cop-guilty-of-tipping-off-criminals-about-planned-police-operations-20230427

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