Durban - Metro police swooped on two of their own during a sting operation on Thursday, in a bid to weed out corruption in the force.
The two officers were arrested by the metro police inspectorate after an irate trucking business owner complained about metro officers soliciting bribes.
The inspectorate investigates allegations of corruption, bribery and assault against its members. The arrest was made by Inspector MS Ally and his team.
The truck owner said that in the past two days, several of his vehicles had been stopped by metro police officers who solicited bribes of between R200 and R2 000.
But there was a twist in the story. According to the truck owner – who asked that his identity not be revealed – the arrested cops were “unfortunate” to fall for the trap.
The sting had been meant for “a lady cop” who had been soliciting bribes from his drivers.
“It was the first time they were involved, but they got caught. The trap was for someone else,” he said.
He said metro officers threatened to confiscate vehicle licence discs if bribes were not paid.
“If my vehicle has faults in it, give me a ticket, give me a fine. Do not pull out the (licence) disc – it’s very expensive to replace,” he said.
Metro police spokesman Eugene Msomi said the unit had been alerted and a trap was set.
The two officers were expected to appear in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The unit encouraged the public to report bribery to the public relations office on 031 311 2807.
The Mercury