SAA crew member held over drug bust

JOHANNESBURG – Police arrested a South African Airways cabin crew member yesterday, the second person to be taken in after 50kg of dagga was allegedly found in the crew’s baggage at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Spokesperson Senior Superintendent Tummi Golding said the woman was arrested after questioning yesterday.
This followed the arrest on Wednesday night of a 43-year-old female security official from Tembisa. She was part of a team which cleared the crew’s luggage. Initial charges that the police hoped to present to the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court during the two women’s first appearance on Friday, included drug trafficking, violation of the Customs Act and fraud. The fraud charge related to the issue of a security clearance sticker. Earlier, police claimed that the security guard had confessed. They were waiting to complete their questioning of the 12 cabin crew who arrived back from London on yesterday morning. The three cockpit crew are still due back. All 15 crew members were detained by British border police on Tuesday after the dagga was allegedly found in three items of luggage. They were released and will have to return to London in March for further questioning. The Airports Company of South Africa’s spokesperson Solomon Makgale said the arrest was not made at OR Tambo International Airport, as earlier stated by police, but at the nearby Airways Park, SAA’s head office. However, Golding said police considered the section where she worked as part of Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport. The national carrier said a review of the current security system was underway. They were working with the police’s crime intelligence unit on the matter, as well as conducting an internal investigation. Spokesperson Robyn Chalmers said any employee arrested and charged would be suspended in line with the airline’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach to criminal activity, and fired if found guilty. – Nampa-Sapa