Pretoria - The South African Revenue Service (SARS) customs team at OR Tambo International Airport seized narcotics worth over R16 million at the weekend.
“On the evening of Friday, 27 February, the SARS customs team identified a male passenger for further checks while he was disembarking from a flight originating in Cotonou, Benin. He had checked in three pieces of luggage – bags each holding a large plastic “jerry can”.
“These cans were found to contain small packets of liquid ecstasy totalling 30 litres, with a value of R9 million,” said SARS deputy spokesperson Marika Muller on Monday.
Muller said the route has been used regularly in the last few months and the customs and other teams at OR Tambo have been monitoring passengers closely as a result.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, a SAA flight landing in Johannesburg from Sao Paulo was identified as needing passenger checks.
A male passenger from this flight, in transit to Lagos, was taken aside immediately after disembarkation for checks. Although he initially denied having any luggage, his ticket indicated he had checked in one bag.
When that was retrieved by customs, it was found to contain 6.7kg of cocaine hidden in jam tins with a value of R1.7 million.
A second female passenger had a very short connection time with a flight to Kinshasa. When her check-in luggage was examined, over 16.8kg of cocaine was found concealed in handbags. The passenger was then identified and prevented from boarding her connecting flight. The cocaine had a value of R4.8 million.
“All these individuals and the narcotics they were carrying have been handed over to the South African Police Service for further action,” said Muller. – SAnews.gov.za
