Police found cocaine worth R60-million and arrested three men in two separate drug busts at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport over the weekend.
On Saturday morning, cocaine was found in three boxes marked ”engine parts” that had arrived from South America, said national police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo.
Officials found cocaine with an estimated street value of R60-million in plastic containers in the boxes. ”It is unclear at this stage where the drugs were destined for … local consumption or for another country within the continent of Africa,” said Naidoo.
The cocaine had already been refined for consumption. No arrests were made.
In the second incident, a suspected South African drug mule and two West African men were arrested at the airport on Friday.
Detectives kept the carrier under surveillance and arrested him and the two West Africans he met in the parking lot. Two cars were also confiscated.
”It’s been confirmed that the mule had foreign objects in his stomach, but we still have to confirm whether it’s cocaine,” said Naidoo.
The three are expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Naidoo said for several months there had not been any attempts to smuggle large quantities of drugs or contraband through the airport.
He said busts that netted hundreds of millions of rands in drugs between November 2005 and June last year had brought a sudden halt to smuggling through the airport.
”It would seem that drug syndicates are once again trying to smuggle drugs through this port of entry and again, without success.” — Sapa