A woman was immediately detained and arrested after airport security noticed something very odd with an X-ray.
Now, I get nervous going through airport security with a tiny 100ml bottle of shampoo. So I could only imagine this particular traveler had butterflies in her stomach when she was passing security...
...only, it wasn't butterflies in her stomach at all. It was something far more dangerous.
This wild incident took place at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, when a 30-year-old woman arrived on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Per Sky News, South African police had received a tip-off that someone on the flight from Brazil was carrying drugs — and they weren’t wrong.
Turns out, the woman was a drug mule who had swallowed 68 “bullets” of cocaine. Yes, you read that right—swallowed them. When she went through security, an X-ray of her stomach showed the whole thing, revealing several foreign objects inside her body.
Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the national police spokesperson, described how things unfolded.
“The team immediately intercepted the drug mule as she was making her way through immigration. She was immediately arrested, taken to a local hospital where a medical X-ray confirmed and detected foreign objects in her stomach." She added, “She has already released more than 60 bullets of suspected cocaine thus far.”
Under police guard, the woman began the process of “releasing” the drugs—yeah, definitely not the most glamorous part of the job.
In total, she expelled 68 bullets, which police weighed in at about 850 grams. That’s a lot to carry around in your stomach.
Though the exact value of the drugs is still being determined, police are confident this arrest is part of a bigger operation.
The woman is the 10th drug mule to be busted at this South African airport in the last two months alone.
She is due to appear in court on September 25 after being charged with drug dealing and drug possession.
And it sounds like the South African police aren’t messing around. General Fannie Masemola, national commissioner of the South African Police Service, praised the operation and warned criminals not to think they can get away with these stunts. “South Africa is not a playground for criminals and transnational organized crime,” he said. “We are squeezing the space for criminals and leaving nothing to chance.”
In case you were wondering, the process of “releasing” those drugs is exactly as uncomfortable as it sounds.
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