Cocaine hidden in frozen poultry has been found in Brazil, en route to South Africa - with some seasoning in Spain. Fruit exports are also a cover for drug shipments between the three countries.
Narcotraffickers are trying to push cocaine shipped from different ports in Brazil to South Africa, sometimes via Spain, hidden in consignments of frozen poultry.
Brazilian authorities have made interceptions that point to this new smuggling tactic and show how enmeshed South Africa is in global drug smuggling.
Though one of the latest cocaine interceptions in South Africa does not seem to link to Brazil, it highlights international drug routes.
Officers linked to the Port of Ngqura in Eastern Cape discovered 32 blocks of cocaine, worth about R12.8-million, in an empty cargo container, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said recently.
"The container was due to transport fruit from South Africa to the United Arab Emirates," she said.
It is not the first time fruit has been used to disguise illicit drugs. In October last year, tik and cocaine worth billions of rands were discovered in consignments of apples, pears and oranges exported from South Africa to India. In November, a shipment of cocaine was found hidden beneath oranges sent from South Africa to the UK.
Powerful organised crime groups are linked to cocaine being smuggled to South Africa in chicken cargo shipped via Brazil.
Daily Maverick has...
