Staff Reporter
THULI Mbangula, the 30-year-old Namibian woman who was arrested in South Africa on Sunday, 22 September 2024, at OR Tambo International Airport after swallowing over 60 bullet-shaped balloons filled with cocaine, appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court in South Africa.
During the appearance, South African prosecutors opposed bail, arguing that it is a Schedule 5 offence and that the charges are serious, with the value of the drugs found standing at ZAR 800,000.
The prosecutors added that her status in the country has also not been verified. The lawyer representing Mbangula indicated that they would apply for bail and that he had received instructions from Mbangula’s family to proceed with the bail application.
According to South African Police Service national spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, Mbangula met someone via social media, and that particular person is the one who lured her to São Paulo, Brazil, under the pretence that they were going on holiday. It was then that this boyfriend asked her for a favour, which was to swallow the drugs. Upon arrival in South Africa, she was to be met by an individual who would escort her through the airport; however, she was intercepted by police after intelligence reports suggested that she was a drug mule.
