Over the past few days, four alleged drug and abalone traffickers, aged between 21 and 45 years, were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport.
Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale, police spokesperson, said a multi-disciplinary team had been operating at the airport to prevent and combat crime. The team recovered drugs worth millions as well as abalone with an estimated value of R1.8 million.
The first suspect was intercepted at the check-in counters. The woman was stopped before she could check in her luggage which was found to contain boxes of Kellogg’s corn flakes cereal.
Sachets containing white powder suspected to be crystal meth were found concealed in the boxes.
In another incident a man ran off to the basement where he parked his car when he realised he was under surveillance. The team pursued him and discovered suspected drugs weighing 6.62kg with an estimated street value of R1.98 million. The suspect was placed under arrest for possession of suspected drugs, Mogale said.
The third suspect was found with suspected cocaine weighing 3.4kg with an estimated value of R940 000 when his luggage was searched. He was arrested as he arrived at the airport.
Preliminary investigations revealed his name did not appear on the passenger list. He was searched and his luggage was found to be containing 17kg of ephedrine with an estimated street value of R690 000.
In a different incident, the team intercepted a suspicious consignment en-route to Hong Kong. Upon inspecting the consignment, which had been declared as personal effects, 60kg of abalone with an estimated street value of R1.8 million was found.
