Customs officials of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have made a substantial cocaine bust at the OR Tambo International Airport, with a street value of some R25 million.
According to SARS, the 47 cocaine bricks – weighing some 50 kg – were stuffed in a bag that was spotted by officials and airport security on a carousel for a flight from Sao Paolo in Brazil and heading to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“SARS Customs officers inspected the luggage bag and saw suspicious looking objects in the bag. These objects tested positive for narcotics. There were no passengers accompanying the bag and no arrests were made. The South African Police Service (SAPS) will now investigate the matter after everything was handed over to them.
“Sao Paolo in Brazil is a high-risk departure point for drug mules, and accompanied and unaccompanied luggage containing cocaine. There have been several busts of drug mules at OR Tambo airport in recent weeks,” the revenue service said.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter warned that the revenue service is partnering with the Border Management Authority, the Airports Company, SAPS and the Department of Home Affairs to crack down illegality.
“This multi-disciplinary approach is having palpable results, demonstrated by arrests and interceptions recently. Through these actions, we are protecting the wellbeing of our citizens, especially young people who are our future,” Kieswetter said.
In another case, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Ethiopian Federal Police nabbed a South African drug trafficker with R5.4 million of cocaine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A team from SAPS Gauteng counter narcotics covert intelligence flagged a 29-year-old South African woman through SAPS Interpol on suspicion that the woman was travelling to Brazil to collect drugs and fly back to SA via several countries. The woman indeed travelled to Brazil from OR Tambo International Airport during the first week of October.
According to the drug trafficker’s itinerary, she was supposed to travel from Brazil via Addis Ababa via Sudan and back to South Africa.
Hot on her heels, SAPS intelligence immediately notified the Ethiopian Federal Police about her movements.
On arrival at Addis Ababa on 12 October, she was flagged and her luggage was checked which confirmed that she was carrying 13 kg of cocaine.
She was immediately apprehended and is expected to be charged and appear in court in Ethiopia, the SAPS said.
“The cooperation between SAPS and the Ethiopian Federal Police must be commended. When African police organisations unite, more can and will be achieved by working together. We are stamping the authority of the state on a larger scale and sending out a clearer message that the long arm of the law will find you, no matter which route you utilise to try and traffic drugs into SA. We are intensifying our fight against transnational organised crime and the trafficking of drugs. SAPS intelligence is relentless in their pursuit to be one step ahead of criminals, this is commendable”, said National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
The SAPS said that through Interpol SA, SAPS Gauteng counter narcotics covert intelligence will work closely with the Ethiopian Federal Police to investigate the masterminds behind this consignment.