Staff Reporter
Police said on Monday they had arrested five South African women at OR Tambo International Airport after finding drugs worth more than R5 million hidden on their bodies, as they prepared to travel to China via Dubai.
Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk said the suspects were arrested on Saturday in an operation conducted with the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA).
“A preliminary report suggests that the suspects were en route to China via Dubai,” she said.
“A search led to the discovery of drugs concealed inside their sneakers, underwear, and private parts.”
The five are expected to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, on charges related to drug trafficking. Van Wyk said investigations were continuing.
The arrests are the latest in an anti-smuggling drive at South Africa’s busiest airport, which police have repeatedly said is a gateway for international trafficking routes.
Less than three weeks ago, police seized drugs worth R2.8 million in two separate cargo-warehouse busts at OR Tambo.
In the first, officers found crystal meth worth R2.2 million destined for the Philippines. In the second, they uncovered eight boxes of dagga worth R672,000, shipped from Morocco to South Africa.
In late February, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said more than 20 drug mules had been arrested at OR Tambo in recent operations, many of them originating from São Paulo in Brazil and smuggling narcotics by swallowing them.
Van Wyk did not specify what kind of drugs were seized.
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