Durban - A
South African woman was arrested with 19kg of drugs at Indira Gandhi International Airport in India on Sunday.
She was arrested before she could board a flight to Addis Ababa.
According to the Tribune News Service in New Delhi, Lynette Nosipho, 22, was apprehended by Indian police after she was allegedly found carrying 16 packets of pseudoephedrine, 14 packets of heroin and a packet of an unidentified narcotic.
It is not known where in South Africa she was from.
The drugs were hidden inside arm guards worn by cricketers, women’s shoes and a laptop bag.
The value of the drugs on the international market was estimated to be R100 000.
According to Indian police, she arrived at gate number three of Terminal 3 at about 11.30pm on Sunday.
Indian police public relations officer, Deputy Commandant Hemendra Singh, said police found her movements suspicious.
“She was subjected to checking and her luggage was passed through an X-ray machine. During screening of her luggage, we detected narcotic substances kept in packets,” said Singh.
The woman was travelling on a tourist visa.
She was found with pseudoephedrine, a popular party drug in New Delhi, and more than 2kg of heroin. Singh said the Narcotics Control Bureau was investigating.
Patricia Gerber, director of Locked Up, the lobby group that helps South African drug mules in prisons overseas, said more young women were being caught, in particular in countries such as India, Hong Kong and Turkey.
“Our government needs to locate and arrest the drug lords and recruiters. This borders on human trafficking. The drug trafficking continues as long as the drug kingpins are out there. Our government is not interacting with the police agencies locally and abroad,” she said.
A spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation was unavailable for comment.
Daily News