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Johannesburg - Government is trying to determine the identity of a woman who was arrested at an Indian airport after she claimed to be seven-months pregnant but was allegedly smuggling drugs.
"We are aware of the situation. The [South African embassy] is still working with the authorities to verify her citizenship," International Relations spokesperson Nelson Kgwete told News24 on Thursday.
"They will provide normal consular services, including facilitating access to family members if that is the wish and access to legal representatives."
The Times of India reported on Monday that the 32-year-old woman was carrying packages of the drugs in her stomach and her urogenital tract.
She alerted the suspicions of the country's Narcotics Control Bureau because of her travel patterns.
She reportedly landed in Dubai from Johannesburg on August 23. The next day she flew to Sao Paulo in Brazil. On August 28 she returned to Dubai from Sao Paulo and on Sunday landed at Hyderabad, in India, from Dubai.
She was taken by authorities to a hospital and given laxatives to remove the packages. Only 16 came out.
Ind Today reported on Wednesday that doctors had recovered 52 latex-covered cocaine capsules. The combined weight of the drugs was 793 grams.
The woman allegedly went 35 hours without water or food.
On Wednesday a Rajendra Nagar court sent the woman to judicial custody for 14 days.
