The 70-year-old alleged drug mule has appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court.
Matthew Hamilton Swire, a citizen from the United Kingdom (UK) was caught in possession of drugs worth R600,000 on Thursday, June 6, at the Cape Town International Airport.
The Western Cape spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said the arrest was an operation conducted by the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) team based in Bellville in conjunction with Border Police based at the airport.
“The Hawks received information regarding a foreign national who is an alleged drug mule leaving South Africa. Information was immediately operationalised. The suspect was spotted and upon searching his luggage, packets of crystal methamphetamine (tik) were found in a hidden compartment,” Vukubi said.
He said the tik seized weighed 4.1 kilograms and was worth R600,000.
Swire made a brief court appearance and indicated to the court he would be abandoning his bail.
At the time of his arrest, he was departing for the UK.
The matter has been postponed to August 1 for further investigation.
In a separate incident, a drug trafficker was sentenced in the Khayelitsha Priority Court.
Jasmine Dolly, 55, was convicted on charges of drugs and the Drug Trafficking Act.
The Hawks said on October 14, 2020, the Hawks’ SANEB team received information which led to the seizure of 1.1 kilograms of tik to the value of R300,000 in Dolly’s home in her main bedroom.
She was immediately arrested.
The court sentenced her to four years imprisonment or a fine of R40,000.
Dolly opted to pay the fine.