5 Angolan ‘drug mules’ nabbed at airport

FIVE Angolan nationals have been arrested for possession of cocaine and were being held at the Katutura State Hospital all of yesterday afternoon and into the night.

The five male suspects were arrested at the Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday morning by the Namibian Police’s Drug Investigation Unit, who acted on tip-offs received before their arrival in Namibia. They arrived on a flight from Johannesburg, and their initial point of departure was Sao Paulo in Brazil.The five were kept at the hospital yesterday afternoon where they were X-rayed and given laxatives to expel the alleged tubes of cocaine in their digestive tracts.Four of the five had allegedly swallowed cocaine tubes. The fifth, who appeared the calmest and most talkative, is believed to be the ring leader. He denied that the other four were his friends, and told The Namibian that he had been in Brazil to shop for clothes.While The Namibian was at the hospital yesterday afternoon, the youngest of the suspects, who turned 25 years old less than two weeks ago, had excreted 26 tubes of cocaine. It is believed that there were more in his intestines.The 26 tubes, about three centimetres long and one centimetre wide, are believed to have a street value of around N$270 000.Another suspect, a 40-year-old, excreted three tubes.The process was apparently a painful one, as the screams of the suspects could be heard across the casualty ward.Because the five have not yet been charged, their names cannot be published at this time.Chief Inspector Barry De Klerk of the Drug Investigations Unit said the group would be charged today and would be kept at the hospital overnight to make sure all the drugs were recovered.nangula@namibian.com.na