Drug mule 'behaved strangely before leaving for Brazil'

"I am not okay when I land, I just want you to hug me because I am not okay."

This is a panicked text that the 21-year-old alleged drug mule sent to one of her cousins just a day before boarding a plane from Brazil to SA.

Upon reading that text, the cousin immediately knew that something was not right because Mmantwa Tshabalala was not someone who was keen on receiving or giving hugs.

Tshabalala was arrested upon landing at OR Tambo International Airport on September29. Her body screening at the airport showed packed drugs in her stomach.

Tshabalala was taken to a local hospital where an X-ray confirmed the foreign objects in her stomach. The drugs were extracted and she was then put in police custody.

The cousin said she couldn't understand Tshabalala's motive in her getting involved knowingly as she was not a person who loved materialistic things.

"She just wanted to study law and be a lawyer," she said.

Tshabalala appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate's court on Tuesday on drug trafficking charges.

The cousin, who was also in court, said while the text about the hug had made her suspicious as Tshabalala was not a person who "liked to hug people", there had been red flags long before she went to Brazil.

Speaking to Sowetan at the court, the woman, who declined to be identified, said Tshabalala matriculated in 2021 and was interested in becoming a lawyer.

In April she told friends and family that she would be off to São Paulo, Brazil, as she had secured a "law learnership".

The cousin said at first they were excited for Tshabalala over the "learnership".

"She told us about the trip, and we were happy as a family. She showed us the papers, but we did not check them [closely] because they seemed legit."

However, the cousin said, the trip took long to happen that they even forgot about it.

"When we were starting to forget about the trip, she showed us her flight tickets and that is when we realised again that the trip was serious."

As days leading to the trip approached, the family started seeing an alarming change in Tshabalala.

"Days leading to her departure date she started having panic attacks and started to cry but we thought that she was just scared that she is going to a foreign country," the cousin recalled.

Tshabalala flew to Brazil on September 20 where she would spend two weeks.

"Everything was paid for and to us it made sense because when someone gets a scholarship or a learnership, the sponsors cover everything. At least that's how we understand it works," she said.

Even in Brazil, there were things that made her realise that was there something wrong with the trip.

"She told me that I shouldn't use vernacular language when I speak to her, I should text in English.

"She didn't pick up our video calls and when she did, it sounded like she was with someone who was listening in to our conversations."

She didn't pick up our video calls and when she did, it sounded like she was with someone who was listening in to our conversations

—  Mmantwa's Cousin

Another source told Sowetan that Tshabalala thought she had gotten a genuine learnership but that things turned sour when she arrived in Brazil.

"She trusted them [source of the learnership] because she had been in communication with them and they sounded legit [to her].

"She was then forced to carry those drugs," the source said.

Sowetan understands from a third source that before flying to Brazil, Tshabalala had been booked at one of the hotels near OR Tambo International Airport where she allegedly tried to lure some friends into visiting her. However, she instructed them that they should come alone but they did not go.

According to national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe, Tshabalala had ingested about 110 bullets of cocaine when she was nabbed at the airport.

"SAPS at OR Tambo say this is the highest number released by a drug mule who was intercepted at the Airport in a period of eight years. Police are concerned on the involvement of young women in this crime and that this exercise can be fatal," she said.

When Tshabalala appeared in court, it was for a bail application which, however, could not proceed as many other people were appearing at the same court.

She was only called to the stand minutes just before 4pm, the time at which the court is expected to close.

During those few minutes she appeared, she hardly looked at her family who were in the gallery.

She had a jacket hat that covered most of her face while the remaining part of her face was covered by a facial mask.

The matter was postponed to October 15. Her lawyer Adv Sipho Tshabalala expressed dissatisfaction with the events of the day but said there was nothing much that he could have done.

Prosecutor Adv Takalani Mukhumo said the state intends to "vehemently" oppose the bail .

According to NPA regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, the cocaine found inside Tshabalala was valued at almost R600,000.

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