On the same day that a South African woman
was being executed for drug smuggling in China, another one was getting caught
trying to smuggle 1.5 kilograms of cocaine in her dreadlocks on a flight to
Bangkok, it was reported today.
South African Nobanda Nolubabalo, 23, was
arrested and held in Thailand's capital yesterday after customs officers
allegedly noticed a suspicious white substance in her hair. Officials later
carried out a search and discovered she had allegedly matted the Class A drug
into her dreadlocks before boarding a flight from Brazil.Thailand's Bangkok Post reported that the
smuggled cocaine had a street value of £93,000 (4.5 million baht or about 1.2
million Rand). It is reported that: "Authorities found something unusual
about her dreadlocks.
"A search found traces of white
substance which turned out to be cocaine."A total of 1.5kg of cocaine was
found hidden in her hair."
Nolubabalo was today held in custody at
Bangkok's international Suvarnabhumi Airport as she disembarked a Qatar Airways
flight which had come from Sao Paolo via Doha.
The Bangkok Post reported that the suspect
had allegedly admitted trying to smuggle the drug and claimed she had done so
after being hired to work as a drug mule by a Thailand-based businessman for
£1,200 (60,000 baht, about 15,450 Rand).
Thailand has some of the toughest
anti-drugs laws on the planet, with judges permitted to impose the death
penalty for traffickers.
The South African's arrest follows the
execution of another South African citizen this week for drug smuggling in China.
Janice Linden, 38, was killed by lethal injection on Monday after she was caught in
November 2008 trying to smuggle 3kg of crystal meth into the southern Chinese
city of Guangzhou.
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