The three senior West Rand organised crime unit officers facing drug-smuggling charges in the High Court in Johannesburg have been served with letters of suspension, Gauteng police said on Monday.

Senior Superintendent Noxolo Kweza said Senior Superintendent Dumisani Petros Jwara (43), Inspector Mpho Victor Jwili (38) and Captain Ratsheki Landro Mokgosani (39) were served with letters of suspension without pay on Friday.

The letters were served after Jwara was granted bail of R1 000 and Jwili and Mokgosani bail of R10 000 each on Thursday. They were released on Friday.

Their attorney Nardus Grove confirmed that he had received the letters of suspension and that the matter had been referred for arbitration.

"We will be challenging the legality of their suspension without pay," he said, adding that an arbitrator was yet to be appointed.

The three officers are on trial on 13 charges including drug dealing, fraud, racketeering and defeating the ends of justice.

They have pleaded not guilty.

They were charged alongside Captain Sakhephi Caiphus Shange, who died of an unknown illness while in police custody in July.

The officers' applied for bail in March, but the application was denied. An appeal against the decision was dismissed. They applied for leave to appeal this, but abandoned the motion before it was heard.

They were given letters informing them of pending disciplinary action them shortly after their arrest.