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OR Tambo customs, airline staff held after coke passes through

Cape Town – Two customs officials, an airline employee and a foreign national are set to appear in court next week over cocaine that passed through OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

The four men were arrested at the airport on Thursday, police spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

A 29-year-old man in transit to Lagos, Nigeria, had landed earlier that day from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Allegedly a drug mule, he was apparently allowed to pass through the airport with as much as 1.5kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R425 000, in his body.

Two customs officials allegedly escorted the man to a hotel, where they were joined by an airline employee “who apparently came to collect the ejected drug bullets from the suspect’s body”.

The customs officers were charged with defeating the ends of justice. The alleged drug mule and airline worker would face drug dealing charges.

The four remained in custody ahead of their expected appearance in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

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