SA airport staff among 5 arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs into Australia
Two Airports Company SA (Acsa) staffers will appear in the Kempton Magistrate’s Court on Friday, alongside three others, following a massive drug bust in Australia where two people were arrested, police said.
The five were arrested after a highly coordinated operation, led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), on Wednesday, on allegations of drug trafficking, contravention of the Civil Aviation Act, and contravention of the Customs and Excise Act.
Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, said an operation was mobilized following allegations that these suspects are employees of various companies at the OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia), where they are said to be facilitating the thoroughfare of drugs coming into and out of the airport.
“Two suspects employed by Acsa, two suspects from Menzies Aviation and one from Swissport, were arrested as a result,” she said.
Mogale added that this is a first operation of its kind in relation to transnational drug trafficking perpetrated through Ortia, where a drug seizure made abroad was positively linked to suspects in South Africa for their complicity.
Hawks head in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, applauded the joint investigation team for their concerted effort in ridding the airport with unsavoury characters tarnishing the name of Ortia and the country.
“The Hawks is totally committed to countering drug trafficking and would like to send a strong message to corrupt officials in such companies to not get involved in facilitating such illicit activities,” Kadwa said.
-IOL
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