Let’s face it, many of us have watched enough crime documentaries and daytime TV to know about the wild things that can go down at airport security.
We’ve all seen those YouTube videos of people returning from trips with luggage full of prohibited fruits or with unusual pills hidden in odd places—even in spots that are definitely not TV-friendly.
In this recent case, a woman was arrested right on the spot at airport security after staff took one quick look at her X-ray. South African police had received a tip that a passenger carrying drugs was on a flight from São Paulo, Brazil, bound for OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
When the 30-year-old woman arrived, authorities arrested her on the spot, and the X-ray quickly confirmed what they suspected, showing foreign objects inside her stomach.
Under police supervision, she then began to ‘release’ 68 ‘bullets’ of suspected cocaine, which authorities later calculated to weigh around 850 grams in total.
Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the national police spokesperson, stated: “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. She has already released more than 60 bullets of suspected cocaine thus far. She is currently under police guard and custody.”
She continued: “The value of the drugs cannot be determined at this stage as the process to release all suspected drugs from the suspects body may take some time.”
The woman is now scheduled to appear in court on 25 September, facing charges for drug dealing and possession.
General Fannie Masemola, the national commissioner of the South African Police Service, praised the efforts of law enforcement, emphasizing their ongoing mission to clamp down on criminal activities at OR Tambo International Airport.
Masemola issued a firm warning: “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.”
Mathe also mentioned that this woman, who allegedly swallowed the cocaine ‘bullets,’ is now the 10th drug mule arrested at the South African airport in the past two months alone.
During that time, police have seized more than £560,000 worth of drugs at the airport.
I, for one, am just trying to get rid of the mental image of someone ‘releasing bullets’ of cocaine.
