Researcher and founder of SA Drug Policy, Shaun Shelly, says vulnerable women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are usually targeted to traffic drugs.
Most of the time, according to Shelly, these women are lured by the prospect of being paid at least R30 000. He says they don’t even ask about the chances of being caught.
He was weighing in on the case of 21-year-old Mantwa Tshabalala, who is on trial for attempting to smuggle drugs worth more than R500 000 into the country. She was returning from Brazil when law enforcement officials pounced on her at the OR Tambo International Airport.
More than 200 000 tons of illicit substances were seized.
Speaking at PAP, Drug demand reduction expert for the Economic Community of West African States, Dr Olubusayo Akinola, bemoaned the worrying trend of drug abuse on the continent, also blaming it on social and economic factors.
Written by: Nokwazi Qumbisa
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