Pretoria, 20 June 2016 – A bizarre concealment of 91 cocaine bullets inside two passengers plus two narcotics busts totalling R6,5 Million were made by SARS Customs at OR Tambo International last week.
Vigilant SARS Customs officials intercepted a passenger with a backpack containing 16kg of ephedrine worth R4 837 380, on Sunday, 19 June. The passenger, who had disembarked a flight from Kenya, attempted to rush past the Customs officials. After dog detectors reacted to the bag, a further full inspection and scan revealed five clear plastic bags containing a crystal substance which tested positive for crystal methamphetamine.
In a separate incident on Saturday, 18 June, the SARS dog detector unit intercepted 4kg of cocaine worth R1,2 Million. The bust was made during an aircraft inspection on a flight from Sao Paulo, when a SARS dog unit inspector detected a body suit hidden in the aircraft toilet. The substance concealed in the bodysuit tested positive for cocaine.
Meanwhile in a bizarre concealment case on Wednesday, 15 June, an X-ray of two passengers disembarking a flight from Sao Paulo revealed they had swallowed a total of 91 cocaine bullets between them. The passengers had been stopped, as one of them had been identified as a possible drug mule through SARS’ risk engines, while the second passenger displayed suspicious behaviour.
The passengers were taken to a hospital for body X-rays which showed that the first passenger had 58 foreign objects inside the abdomen while the other had 41. Altogether 91 cocaine bullets, weighing approximately 1,4 kg were identified.
The two suspects were arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and placed under medical surveillance for release of the bullets.
Suspects and consignments in all cases above have been handed over to the South African Police Service for further investigation.
