Woman going through airport arrested immediately after staff take one look at X-ray

The unnamed 30-year-old was arrested on arrival at OR Tambo International Airport Johannesburg after police were tipped off that a person carrying drugs was on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil

An airport X-ray has revealed dozens of "cocaine bullets" in a woman's stomach after she swallowed packages of the drug.

The unnamed 30-year-old was arrested on arrival at OR Tambo International Airport Johannesburg after police were tipped off that a person with drugs was on a flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Officers revealed they had recovered more than 60 of the "cocaine bullets" from following an X-ray which detected the objects in the suspect's stomach.

Brig Athlenda Mathe, national police spokesman, said: “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 has already released more than 60 bullets of suspected cocaine thus far. She is currently under police guard and custody.

“The value of the drugs cannot be determined at this stage as the process to release all suspected drugs from the suspects body may take some time,” she added.

General Fannie Masemola, national commissioner of South African Police Service, praised the authorities as they bid to clamp down on the the criminality at OR Tambo International Airport.

“Our men and women in blue are hard at work intercepting hardened criminals. South Africa is not a playground for criminals and transnational organised crime. We are squeezing the space for criminals and leaving nothing to chance,” said Masemola.

It comes as more than £560,000 worth of drugs have been seized at the airport in the last two months. Last week, a man was arrested with 450 grams of cocaine hidden inside headphones after travelling from Sao Paulo. He was due to catch a connecting flight to Nigeria when a cleaner, who allegedly handed him the headphones at the aiport, quickly left the scene, according to police.

Meanwhile, a South African woman was stopped at the same airport ahead of her "upcoming wedding" in Brazil.

“The Germiston-based Hawks' serious organised crime investigation team pounced on the unsuspecting 33-year-old traveller at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday August 27 morning,” according to Captain Lloyd Ramovha, Gauteng provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.

“A search to her luggage revealed the consignment of narcotics, which was established to be 10 kilogrammes of cocaine. They were approached and brought in for questioning at the police station. They stated that they were waiting for a traveller from elsewhere, but they could not provide proof thereof,” said Ramovha.

“It was eventually established that they were actually waiting for the arrested drug mule originating from Motherwell in Port Elizabeth,” he said.