A South African woman who was arrested in Thailand for hiding cocaine in her dreadlocks is not a student at Wits University, the institution said on Wednesday.
“Wits University would like to place on record that Ms Nolubabalo Nobanda, an alleged drug mule, was never registered as a student at Wits University,” spokeswoman Shirona Patel said in a statement.
“The university cannot find any student record under this name.”
The Star newspaper on Wednesday reported that Nobanda was studying “something in the legal field” at Wits University, according to her Facebook profile.
The 23-year-old was searched in Thailand on Monday when police said they noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a Qatar Airways flight.
Police found 1.5kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $150 000 hidden in her dreadlocks.
She admitted to authorities that she smuggled the drugs and said she was hired to deliver the cocaine to a customer at a hotel in Bangkok. – Sapa