Port Shepstone cocaine theft accused Lucas Legabe granted 50K bail

The man accused of stealing cocaine worth more than R200 million from a Hawks facility in Port Shepstone on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast has been granted R50 000 bail.

Lucus Legabe’s bail application was heard by the Port Shepstone Magistrates’ Court.

The cocaine consignment was stolen in 2021.

Legabe was arrested in Pretoria last month and has distanced himself from the charges.

The state alleges Legabe was ordered by police officers to steal the drugs and was among those who orchestrated the crime.

Handing down her ruling, Magistrate Nonjabulo Moleele said the state has failed to convince the court that Legabe was a flight risk and that he would interfere with the investigation.

“Having considered all the relevant circumstances, I am satisfied that the applicant has discharged the onus resting upon him under Section 60(11)b of the Criminal Procedure Act.

I am very satisfied that the interests of justice can adequately be protected through strict and impossible bail conditions.

Viewed in isolation, none of the grounds relied upon by the respondent has been shown on the evidence before this court to render detention necessary.” “Accumulatively, they did not alter that conclusion.

The seriousness of the charge, the scale of the alleged enterprise are real and I’m not discounting that, but they are offset by the absence of any evidence connecting the applicant to the physical disposal of the drugs,” adds Moleele.

The matter has been adjourned to December 1.

WATCH | Lucas Legabe has been granted R50,000 bail by the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court.

He is accused of stealing 541kg of cocaine worth an estimated R216 million. pic.twitter.com/ROOv239WpN — SABC News (@SABCNews) September 14, 2026