Cocaine worth R167m confiscated from Brazil flight at OR Tambo

The South African Revenue Service’s (Sars) customs and excise division intercepted more than 333kg of cocaine at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on a flight arriving from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The operation was executed simultaneously across three areas at the airport on Tuesday — aircraft baggage offloading, passenger arrivals baggage screening and cargo inspections.

During baggage screening in the international arrivals hall, customs officials identified two pieces of luggage containing cocaine. A total of 75 bricks, weighing 83.10kg, were found inside the suitcases.

Sars’ narcotics detector dog, Lagertha, reacted positively to four boxes of unmanifested cargo that had been offloaded from the same flight. The cargo was found to contain 250kg of cocaine.

“The cocaine discovered in both the passenger baggage and cargo consignments carried similar ‘Air’ branding,” the revenue service said. Police are investigating further.

Sars commissioner Dr Johnstone Makhubu said the interceptions highlight its strengthened capability to detect and disrupt sophisticated smuggling syndicates.

“The co-ordinated interception of cocaine from both passenger baggage and unmanifested cargo on the same flight reflects the value of integrated enforcement.

“Every successful seizure helps protect communities from the devastating impact of drug trafficking.”