Cocaine, kidnappings, and chaos: Inside failed international drug heist off the shores of Western Cape
Alleged gang boss Peter Jaggers’ kidnapping has been linked to a cocaine shipment that was apparently lost at sea off the coast of the Western Cape. (Supplied)
- A drug deal involving up to 700kg of cocaine, featuring the Bulgarian mafia, a Colombian cartel and Western Cape gangsters, appears to have gone wrong.
- Now, a key 28s gang leader appears to have been kidnapped as retribution for a botched drug deal worth more than a billion rand.
- While official channels are mum on the investigation, News24 has pieced together its many international role players.
Cocaine with an estimated street value of more than R1 billion, the Bulgarian mafia, a Colombian cartel and top 28s gang associates feature in an international drug deal that appears to have gone awry off the shores of Simon’s Town leading to shootings, kidnappings and a high level-police investigation.
An alleged Western Cape crime lord and his associate have now been kidnapped in what has unfolded as a Hollywood-style tale that involves a missing shipment of cocaine.
Four sources close to the investigation told News24 Peter Jaggers and his associate, William Peterson, went missing on Sunday, 30 June, a few hours after travelling from Cape Town to Gauteng where they were supposed to attend a meeting.
Jaggers is believed to be the leader of the infamous Terrible Josters gang which operates in Kalksteenfontein and Netreg near Valhalla Park and is affiliated to the 28s gang.
Jaggers and Peterson were allegedly kidnapped because of a botched drug deal involving Colombian and Bulgarian organised crime syndicates in which a shipment estimated to be between 500 and 700kg went missing off the Western Cape coast.
A well-placed insider told News24 Jaggers’ gang allegedly acted as intermediaries between the Colombians and Bulgarians and their role was to ensure the cocaine made its way from South America and into the hands of the eastern European syndicate.
Lost at sea
The shipment in question was meant to arrive on South African shores over the Easter Weekend with Jaggers’ crew awaiting its arrival about 80 nautical miles off the coast of the Western Cape but, owing to bad weather, it was apparently lost at sea.
Jaggers, who was allegedly responsible for the shipment, failed to account for its loss. In turn, he was apparently summoned to a meeting in Gauteng last weekend to explain himself and account for the missing shipment.
According to an intelligence report seen by News24, Jaggers, Peterson and a third person arrived at OR Tambo International Airport at around 23:00 and were taken to Emperors Palace where they were booked into the Peermont D’oreale Grande Hotel.
A few hours after checking in, Jaggers and Peterson left the hotel to attend a meeting with the Bulgarian crime syndicate but were never seen again.
The report stated:
The spate of kidnappings allegedly revolve around the missing shipment of drugs worth R288 million that went missing in the Western Cape. It is alleged Peter Jaggers was tasked to retrieve the drugs offshore after [it] was dropped offshore on the Western Cape coast and the drugs were not retrieved after a rendezvous went wrong with the parties at sea.
However, the street value of the shipment has been estimated to be north of R1 billion.
The report further stated another individual known to News24 who is apparently in hiding, allegedly introduced Jaggers to the Bulgarian mafia. His wife and child were allegedly kidnapped as well in the same time period.
But News24 was unable to confirm the kidnappings as the individual’s phone was off, while police could not confirm the kidnapping.
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Jaggers’ wife, Shawaal Jaggers, registered a missing person‘s report with the police five days after his disappearance on 5 July where she stated she had not heard from her husband since the day of his disappearance.
According to the report, Shawaal stated her 43-year-old husband left their home on 30 June at 17:00 for Cape Town International Airport bound for OR Tambo International Airport.
She added he was apparently picked up by foreigners from Bulgaria and Serbia but never returned home.
Speaking to News24 on Sunday, Shawaal confirmed her husband was missing but refused to divulge details surrounding his disappearance.
The cartel and the mob
News24 has heard two WhatsApp voice notes which were allegedly sent to Shawaal last Thursday, allegedly originating from a Colombian cartel, in which a man claims Jaggers was en route to South America after being kidnapped and his release would only be permitted after the return of the missing shipment.
“Hey, we’re not playing, we’re not playing. Your husband is on the way to South America. You guys have 24 hours to return the stuff, or we will come after your families. We’re not playing. We’re f**king gangsters from Colombia. We’re cartel, we don’t forgive you.”
In another voice note, the man states: “Hey don’t forget, time is running; you’ve got 24 hours to give my stuff back.”
News24 has also seen screenshots of a conversation, allegedly between Jaggers’ representatives and the Colombians where the former makes attempts to alleviate the situation.
In part, the screenshots read: “Amigo nothing to talk about. Return all of my things all of them today [sic]. 24 horas [hours] I talk no more.”
It adds:
I don’t get my things I bomb your house. Anything with your name or related to you I finish everything. You [think] we playing games. I don’t.
Jaggers’ representatives asked whether there was an alternative route to resolve the matter by stating: “Is there no other way we can do work for you to pay off what was lost?”
To which the response was: “I say no more. I show you today [sic].”
The representative responded by saying: “Please think of way we can resolve this; we will work for you as long as you want.”
The alleged Colombian then states: “Don’t send me again, I give you a chance already.”
In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, Jaggers’ representatives responded by saying: “We trying to recover what was lost.”
Out to sea and six ‘fishermen’
A source close to the matter said Jaggers and Peterson’s kidnapping was allegedly linked to the rescue of six fishermen who were lost at sea over the Easter Weekend.
It was reported that the men went fishing, but their rubber duck ran out of fuel.
The insider stated this was a failed attempt by the men to collect the cocaine shipment.
The source stated the 28s gang’s operations include abalone poaching off the Western Cape’s shores and are known to have a unique knowledge of the seas in that region and that they are alleged to be well known 28 gang members. One is related to Jaggers and another is a relative of a high-ranking member of the Terrible Josters gang.
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“Before Jaggers’ kidnapping, it appeared as though the Terrible Josters had teamed up with the Rude Boys, both 28s gangs, but which were rivals to Ralph Stanfield’s, The Firm gang.
“They consolidated their forces and called themselves the Terrible Rude Boys and were starting to challenge The Firm in Valhalla,” said the insider.
“This kidnapping was also a dramatic twist in what looked to be a foregone conclusion with the Terrible Rude Boys taking over territory from Stanfield.”
A history of drug shipping
Information gathered by News24 indicates the six men were waiting for the drug shipment from a bulk carrier ship, known to News24, which regularly brought cocaine from South America to South Africa and that Jaggers’ gang acted as intermediaries between the source of the shipment and the intended recipients.
“The ship dropped off a sealed container – a package with between 500 and 700kg of cocaine – that is able to float and is wrapped up tightly with a floatation device with a GPS tracker and PVC pipe attached.
“The crew – who knows the sea very well because they are abalone poachers – used a large rubber duck boat in the region of 11 foot with a container at the bottom, where you can store anything, including the shipment,” said the insider.
“But they ran out of fuel and couldn’t reach the shipment and that is when they made a distress call and asked for help so they could be rescued.”
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Another source said despite this, there were talks in the underworld Jaggers allegedly sent out a second boat to collect the shipment and sold it off.
“It is not clear at the moment, but it seems as though the shipment was indeed collected but then sold off. The initial boat was used as a decoy so that the Jaggers could wash his hands from the failed expedition,” said the source.
Another source claimed that the Colombians were responsible for the shooting at the house of one of Jaggers’ lieutenants in Kuils River last week. No casualties were reported.
“Further intelligence gathered indicates that one of Peter Jaggers’ associates’ home in Kuils River was attacked on the evening of 3 July which still needs to be verified. Additional information gathered indicates that approximately 50 to 75 gang members will be travelling to Gauteng,” said the source.
Martin Plaut 