Top Scorpions investigator Ivor Powell was arrested last night in Cape Town after what police described as a “chase” through the city’s streets.

Powell, a former investigative journalist, was charged with defeating the ends of justice, driving under the influence, obstructing the course of justice and harbouring a fugitive.

Powell was arrested along with two others last night, and is expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court later today.

Western Cape police spokesman Elliot Sinyangana said: “The three men were driving a blue VW Polo when they were pulled over by police after a chase that started in Kensington. A 35-year-old man introduced himself as a senior investigator at the Scorpions.”

Sinyangana would not say why the car driven by Powell was pulled over at around 5.30pm.

The man Powell is accused of harbouring was arrested on charges of possession of stolen property and obstructing the ends of justice, and will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday, Sinyangana said.

The third suspect was taken in for questioning by police, he said.

The Times has learnt that the fugitive Powell was allegedly harbouring is thought to be involved in the Cape Town underworld.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Tlali Tlali initially said he was unaware of Powell’s arrest last night, then later refused to discuss the matter.

Before working for the Scorpions, Powell had worked as an investigative reporter for the Mail and Guardian.

The former journalist has been involved in high-profile investigations by the Scorpions, and was the subject of scathing attacks by the likes of former National Intelligence Agency chief Billy Masetlha and Jacob Zuma backer Mo Shaik.

In 2004, Shaik claimed — during the Hefer Commission inquiry into allegations that former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy — that several people associated with the Scorpions, including Powell, would be arrested in connection with a shadowy plot to kill President Thabo Mbeki.

In 2005, Masetlha accused Powell of passing documents to foreign agents, during hearings by the Khampepe commission into whether the Scorpions should be incorporated into the police.

None of these allegations amounted to anything.

Powell’s arrest follows that of another high-profile Scorpion, Gerrie Nel, who was arrested by police on January 8 on charges of defeating the ends of justice and corruption.

On January 14, it took the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court two minutes to throw out the case against Nel — the lead investigator in the corruption case against National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi.

With acknowledgements to Sashni Pather and The Times.