By Dasen Thathiah
Police say the Argentinian woman who claimed she was strip-searched and X-rayed after being suspected of being a drug mule, had been acting suspiciously.
They have also denied she was strip-searched by police.
Paula Martinez, 48, had arrived at OR Tambo Airport from Buenos Aires on October 22 to visit her sister, Claudia Martinez-Mullen.
She was questioned by police and allegedly strip-searched before she was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays, leaving her traumatised.
Martinez - who is unable to communicate in English - said at the time that she had missed her connecting flight to Durban as a result of the delay.
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National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo said Martinez was searched by customs officials, then handed over to police.
"At the outset she created suspicions from the way she behaved. She didn't want anyone to touch her bag. She was not victimised by being searched."
Naidoo vehemently denied claims of Martinez being strip-searched, saying that she was asked to change into a gown at the hospital.
"It is not police procedure to perform strip-searches. We make use of a police dog to locate drugs.
"Many people try to use the airport as a thoroughfare. We have detected millions of rands worth of drugs in the past and that is indicative of the fact that people are trying to smuggle drugs," he said.
Naidoo invited Martinez to lodge a complaint with the Independent Complaints Directorate so the matter could be investigated.
South African Revenue Service spokesman Adrian Lackay had not responded to queries by the time of going to press. Meanwhile, Martinez-Mullen yesterday said she had received a letter from the Argentinian Embassy stating that the matter was under investigation.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on November 05, 2009
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