Cape Town - Use of the drug-trafficking route, especially cocaine, from South Africa and Africa to Europe has increased since 2019, with Brazilian crime groups targeting Portuguese-speaking countries.
This is according to the Global Report on Cocaine 2023. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime noted that Africa and South Africa are now becoming dominant passages for drugs to Europe.
According to the report, seizure data suggests that the role of Africa, especially West and Central Africa, as a transit zone for cocaine on its way to markets in Europe has picked up substantially since 2019.
“But other indicators suggest a widening issue on the continent. South Africa, for example, reported a record amount of cocaine seized, suggesting a large increase and raising the prospect of a rebound in the domestic market.
“Brazilian crime groups seem to be increasingly targeting Portuguese-speaking countries like Mozambique, Angola and Cabo Verde. And airports in Kenya and Ethiopia are also believed to have been targeted as ‘stopovers’ en route from Brazil to Europe,“ the report states.
A week ago, the Hawks, arrested a 63-year-old woman at Cape Town International Airport who was attempting to smuggle 3.5kg of heroin worth about R1.6 million to Europe.
Zinzi Hani of the Hawks said the arrest was made by the South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau team together with Border Policing Unit Cape Town and Gauteng Crime Intelligence before the woman boarded the Ethiopian Airlines flight.
Hani confirmed that the woman speaks Greek and is a foreign national.
“This is after information was received on August 4 that a suspected drug courier entered South Africa and will be taking drugs out on her departure.
“The information was followed up and narcotics were discovered in the suspect’s luggage concealed in an inside structure before checking in.
“The courier was intercepted and heroin was seized.”
The woman made an appearance at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court earlier this week and her case has been postponed to August 14 for an interpreter.
Her arrest comes just a year after a Brazilian drug mule, Tania Cavalcante Amarante, was sentenced after trying to transport cocaine weighing 2.7kg as well as 200g of heroin worth R870 000.
She had been travelling from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Cape Town via Qatar Airways.
Amarante was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for dealing in drugs in terms of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act. Seven years of her sentence were suspended for a period of five years, meaning she will serve eight years’ direct imprisonment. She was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Meanwhile, Ashley Oosthuizen, from George, who is in a Thai prison for drug trafficking, continues in her fight for a royal pardon.
She was sentenced to life in prison in 2021, which was later reduced to 33 years.
In a statement made on Facebook, her family said the royal pardon was applicable if the person pleaded guilty and would be applied after an unsuccessful appeal.
“We choose not to take matters into our own hands for the moment, as it is certain to make matters worse. Since this is not our country, we refrain from doing as we please, even though our intentions are of a good heart.
“It’s hard to understand the ways and laws of the country and its people if you haven’t spent some time here. To understand how certain actions might work against us instead of for us. Thus we continue strictly the lawful way.”