Another drug bust at OR Tambo airport as cocaine worth R25m found in bag

More drugs have been found at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

On Friday, a bag was discovered at the airport with R25 million worth of cocaine in it.

Bag with cocaine came from Brazil

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the bag was found on a carousel for a flight from São Paulo, Brazil.

She added that no arrests have been made and investigations are underway.

In a video shared by Mathe, more than 40 bricks of cocaine can be seen on a table.

She said the drug bust was made during a joint operation by Airports Company South Africa (Acsa), the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and police.

Drug mules arrested at OR Tambo airport

The discovery of the cocaine comes after 14 suspected drug mules were arrested at OR Tambo airport in just over two months.

The latest arrest occurred on Sunday when a 43-year-old Paraguayan man was caught with more than 100 bullets of drugs in his digestive system.

“The drug mule had landed from São Paulo when he was arrested by police officials at the airport,” police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Amanda van Wyk said at the time.

“A medical examination confirmed that he had swallowed multiple foreign objects and has so far released more than 20 bullets suspected to contain cocaine.” 

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After his arrest, the man had to be rushed to hospital.

In September, a 21-year-old South African woman and 30-year-old Namibian woman were caught with drugs in their stomachs.

The women were found with 110 and 60 drug bullets respectively. Both of them arrived from Sao Paulo.

Dutch duo caught with Khat

At the beginning of October, two Dutch nationals were caught trying to smuggle Khat at Johannesburg’s airport.

They were arrested separately. In total, 80kg of Khat were seized.

“According to a preliminary report, both the 21-year-old and 59-year-old suspects were en route from South Africa to the Netherlands via Dubai when they were intercepted by police. They attempted to check in and board their flights on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively,” said Van Wyk.

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