Friday, May 18, 2007
Guards, airport officials nabbed in police sting
South Africa -
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC-News)
Seven people, including Airports Company of South Africa officials
and security guards, have been arrested and a large consignment of suspected
stolen goods confiscated in a police sting at OR Tambo International
Airport.
The crime combating initiative aims to increase security at the
airport in the run-up to the Soccer World Cup in 2010. Dennis Adriao, a police
spokesperson, says more arrests are expected. Police recently found cocaine
worth R60 million and arrested three men in two separate drug busts at
Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport.
The cocaine was found in
three boxes marked "engine parts" which had arrived from South America.
Officials found cocaine with an estimated street value of R60 million in plastic
containers in the boxes. The cocaine had already been refined for consumption.
No arrests have been made.
Drug mule arrested
In a second incident, a suspected South African drug mule and
two West African men were also arrested at the airport. Detectives kept the
carrier under surveillance and arrested him and the two West Africans he met in
the parking lot. Two cars were also confiscated. "It's been confirmed that the
mule had foreign objects in his stomach."
Vish Naidoo, the national
police spokesperson and senior superintendent, said for several months there had
not been any attempts to smuggle large quantities of drugs or contraband through
the airport. He said busts that netted hundreds of millions of rands in drugs
between November 2005 and June 2006 had brought a sudden halt to smuggling
through the airport.
Click or paste the link to view the video:
Note: This content may require the latest RealPlayer, which is not available on Windows 95, Mac OS9 or Linux systems.