Police have caught roughly a dozen suspected drug mules at OR Tambo International Airport over a few months, most with ties to Brazil's São Paulo. Cops there, meanwhile, have noted a smuggling increase via the airport and found a house where 'mules' were prepared before flights.

Listen to this article 17 min Listen to this article 17 min On a recent Saturday a woman from Brazil was planning to board a plane at the airport in São Paulo and fly to South Africa.

Instead, police flagged and searched her, found 3kg of cocaine attached to her body, and arrested her.

The 21-year-old suspect now faces jail time in Brazil.

And there are several others like her in different countries risking their health and freedom to make quick money working for trafficking syndicates who put them on flights between countries.

There are even cases involving pregnant women being arrested and giving birth while jailed - this week a five-year-old, who was born while her mother was detained in Mauritius for drug trafficking, was expected to be repatriated to South Africa.

In terms of Brazil, Daily Maverick has established that arrests, especially in São Paulo, of suspected drug-smuggling couriers, or mules, have tripled there this year.

And the ripple effect is being felt about 7,450km away - here in South Africa.

South Africa and São Paulo

This country has a deep drug trafficking history with Brazil.

A high-profile case in point is that of Sheryl Cwele, once...