Cocaine on a plane at OR Tambo – again: Drug mule nabbed with 33 ‘bullets’

International drug smugglers appear to be increasingly targeting OR Tambo International Airport with yet another significant drug bust having been made at the bustling airport this weekend.

On Friday, police foiled a Paraguayan drug mule’s daring attempt to slip past authorities with 33 drug bullets of cocaine in her stomach

Another drug mule arrest at OR Tambo

Police said the arrest, part of ongoing efforts to address the scourge of drug trafficking into South Africa, was effected moments after the 43-year-old female landed from São Paulo on Friday, 6 December.

According to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk, the suspected drug mule was taken to a nearby hospital where a medical X-ray revealed the presence of foreign objects found to be drug bullets in her stomach.

A total of 33 drug bullets containing cocaine were subsequently released by the Paraguayan drug trafficker.

Four arrests in two weeks

The latest arrest marks the fourth drug trafficker intercepted at the airport in the short span of two weeks.

On Tuesday this week, a 21-year-old man was intercepted after landing from Brazil, with an X-ray showing up several plastic-covered cocaine bullets concealed in his stomach.

On 28 November, police arrested a 44-year-old female Brazilian drug mule who had cocaine wrapped around her torso.

The method of concealment was similar to that used by a 25-year-old Brazilian man who was arrested on 24 November with more than three kilograms of cocaine wrapped around his body.  The street value of the cocaine seized is estimated at R1.8 million.

Alarming increase in drug trafficking at OR Tambo

Van Wyk previously revealed that police have arrested 14 suspects on charges of drug trafficking at the OR Tambo airport in a four-month period.

• In October, three people, including two Dutch traffickers, were found with 80kg of Khat.
• Also in October, a 43-year-old man from Paraguay was nabbed after landing from São Paulo.

He had to be rushed to hospital after suffering a health complication due to the drug bullets that he ingested. He subsequently released around 117 of the cocaine-filled bullets.

Deputy national commissioner responsible for policing, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, revealed at the time that each of the bullets weighed about 10g.

“That is a huge amount for a person to consume,” Mosikili told TimesLIVE.

“It is not safe to swallow bullets. The risk is that a bullet might rupture in the body. There is also a possibility of the bullets exploding and when they explode, it’s an instant life loss,” he added.

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