An X-ray has confirmed that a 30-year-old Namibian woman who flew in from Saulo Paulo in Brazil to OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday had bags of drugs in her stomach.
POLICE INTELLIGENCE
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the police, SARS and immigration officials followed up on intelligence driven information to be on the were look out for a suspected drug mule.
"The team immediately intercepted the drug mule as she was making her way through immigration.She was immediately arrested, taken to a local hospital where a medical X-ray confirmed and detected foreign objects in her stomach."
A DRUG PROBLEM
Mathe said the suspect had released more than 60 bullets of drugs, which is suspected to be cocaine.
"The value of the drugs cannot be determined at this stage as the process to release all suspected drugs from the suspect's body may take some time," she said.
Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola commended law enforcement for being vigilant and warned criminals that the police are on high alert and clamping down on organised crime in South Africa.
"Our men and women in blue are hard at work intercepting hardened criminals. South Africa is not a playground for criminals and transnational organised crime. We are squeezing the space for criminals and leaving nothing to chance," said Masemola.
Mathe said the Namibian mule is the tenth drug mule to be arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in the past two months.