Cape Town - A Brazilian drug mule caught with cocaine and heroin worth R870 000 has been sentenced in the Bellville Regional Court.
Tania Cavalcante Amarante, 28, was nabbed at the Cape Town International Airport in February after she was found trying to smuggle drugs into the country.
She was travelling from Sao Paulo, and the drugs were found in her luggage and shoes.
Amarante entered into a plea agreement with the State.
According to the spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Western Cape, Zinzi Hani, the drug mule was arrested on February 21 by members of the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) based in Bellville.
“She was caught at Cape Town International Airport after authorities received information about a drug contrabandist travelling from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Cape Town via Qatar airline.
“Cocaine weighing 2.7 kilograms as well as 200 grams of heroin worth R870 000 were concealed in her luggage and shoes,” Hani said.
Amarante was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for dealing in drugs in terms of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.
“Seven years of her sentence was suspended for a period of five years.
“She will serve eight years direct imprisonment, and she was further declared unfit to possess a firearm,” Hani said.
The Hawks’ provincial head, Major General Mathipa Makgato, welcomed the sentence.