Customs officials found shampoo bottles filled with liquid cocaine in the luggage of a South African woman who landed in Durban at the weekend of a flight from Dubai. Image: Supplied (ANA)
Woman caught with R4 million worth of cocaine at Durban airport
The cocaine was reportedly found inside shampoo bottles of the luggage of a passenger who arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai.
Customs officials found shampoo bottles filled with liquid cocaine in the luggage of a South African woman who landed in Durban at the weekend of a flight from Dubai. Image: Supplied (ANA)
A South African woman was searched and apprehended at King Shaka International Airport in Durban after around R4 million worth of cocaine was allegedly found in shampoo bottles in her possession.
Cocaine arrived from Dubai
Yangaphi Ntombizanele, 36, was searched and detained after landing on an Emirates flight from Dubai on Saturday, according to South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo.
“Members of the South African Police Service and Customs and Excise, acting on intelligence, searched the woman’s luggage and found liquid cocaine, with an estimated street value of R4 million, concealed in name brand shampoo bottles,” Naidoo said.
Ntombizanele was arrested and charged with dealing drugs as well as being in possession of drugs. She appeared in the magistrate’s court in Verulam on Tuesday and was remanded until 6 August 2019 for a formal bail application.
It is the second major cocaine bust in South Africa in 2019 after around R720 million worth of the narcotic was confiscated from the docks in Port Elizabeth in January. It remains the biggest drug bust in South African history.
It is the second major cocaine bust in South Africa in 2019 after around R720 million worth of the narcotic was confiscated from the docks in Port Elizabeth in January. It remains the biggest drug bust in South African history.
That bust was part of an international effort involving Interpol to intercept the drugs on their way from Brazil to Singapore.
South Africa’s drug problem
It is also a major boon to local law enforcement officials in their war on drugs.
At the start of 2019, the International Narcotics Control Strategy (INCS) Report revealed South Africa to have the largest market for the illicit sale of drugs in sub-Saharan Africa.
The report showed that one of the most dangerous drugs being used in South Africa is a cocktail known as nyaope, which is a mixture of marijuana and other drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and codeine.
As one of the largest and most-established economies in Africa, the report also believes South Africa is a transshipment destination for drugs on their way to North Africa, Asia, and Europe from South America.
“A portion is distributed for local consumption and the remainder is trafficked internationally,” the report states.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Lindiz van Zilla. Additional edits by Nick Krige.
