WESTERN CAPE – A drug mule, Cavalcante Amarante (28) was yesterday, 20 September 2022 sentenced for drug smuggling by the Bellville Regional Court after entering into a plea agreement with the State.
This comes after her arrest on 21 February 2022 by the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) team based in Bellville where she was caught at Cape Town International Airport after authorities received information about a drug contrabandist travelling from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Cape Town via Qatar airline.
Cocaine weighing 2.7 kilograms as well as 200 grams of heroin worth R870 000-00 were concealed in her luggage and shoes.
Amarante was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for dealing in drugs in terms of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act. Seven years of her sentence was suspended for a period of five years.
She will serve eight years direct imprisonment and she was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The Hawks’ Provincial Head, Major General Mathipa Makgato welcomed the sentence handed to Amarante for her illicit deeds.
Source: South African Police Service