Crew held for drugs worth R4.3m

2009-01-21 11:08

London - British investigators were set to question 15 members of a South African Airways (SAA) crew on Wednesday, after large amounts of drugs were found in luggage aboard a plane at London's Heathrow airport.

The arrests of 10 women and five men from the flight and cabin crew were made on Tuesday after the plane touched down in London from Johannesburg.

Customs authorities at the airport said on Wednesday that 50kg of cannabis, estimated to be worth £150 000 (R2.1m), and 4kg of cocaine worth £160 000 (R2.2m) was found in the baggage.

According to customs officials, the cannabis was in three pieces of baggage, with the cocaine also packed in one of the bags.

Officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA), a new force set up to control smuggling and illegal immigration, seized the cannabis after the flight came in early on Tuesday.

However, a further search revealed a white powder which tested positive for cocaine, they said.

Early reports Tuesday evening had said that only cannabis had been discovered. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA