Two passengers busted with 91 cocaine bullets in their stomachs
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.
An X-ray of two passengers disembarking a flight from Sao Paulo last Wednesday revealed they had swallowed a total of 91 cocaine bullets.
According to SARS, the two passengers were stopped after one of them was identified as a possible drug mule, 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 kilogrammes were identified," SARS said in a statement.
The two suspects were arrested and placed under medical surveillance for release of the bullets.
In a second drug bust, SARS Customs officials intercepted a passenger with a backpack containing 16 kilogrammes of ephedrine worth R4,8 million on Sunday.
"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."
On Saturday, the SARS dog detector unit intercepted 4 kilogrammes 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."