Dagga dollas in demand

2003-11-02 21:58

Natasha Pamplin

London - Struggling white, Afrikaans-speaking women are apparently recruited to become dagga couriers between South Africa and England where drug dealers allegedly become instant millionaires because of the high quality of South African dagga.

A British newspaper, The Observer, reported that at least 100 couriers from South Africa were apprehended at the airport in Dublin, Ireland, during the past year. Most of the dagga apparently finds its way to England through Dublin.

Apparently, about 80% of the couriers arrested during the summer were South Africans.

South African women are reportedly given a return airline ticket and about R5 750 in cash to transport the dagga.

They allegedly carry about 25kg of dagga - wrapped in silver, coffee and carbon paper to prevent detection - in suitcases.

Once the women arrive in Ireland, they telephone a local contact and then transport the drugs to England.

South African dagga is apparently very popular in Britain where it sells for about R40 250 per kilogramme.

About three million British citizens smoke dagga regularly.

Interpol lists South Africa as the fourth largest supplier of dagga in the world.

- Beeld