A criminal investigation has been launched after drug samples taken from horses that raced at South Africa’s biggest race meeting, the Durban July, were stolen in a brazen hijacking.
The samples were stolen when a courier service vehicle, which was transporting the post-race equine specimens, was pulled over on the N2 motorway shortly after 9.30pm on Saturday by an unmarked VW Golf with a flashing blue light and a PA system.
Assuming that it was the police, the driver of the courier vehicle pulled over and was then ordered to get out of the vehicle and told to lie down on the ground.
Three males then proceeded to rob the driver of his wallet and phone before taking all the sealed boxes containing the equine specimens from the courier vehicle.
The following day a woman was walking in the Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve in Glenwood, Durban, when she found what appeared to be the specimen boxes which had been forced open.
The woman noted that the boxes stated “Greyville 7/7/2018” but on her return to the area a few hours later with police, the boxes had disappeared.
