Woman arrested with explosives at border

 

Johannesburg - A woman was arrested at the Beit Bridge border post when mining explosives were allegedly found in her bag on Monday, the SA Revenue Service said.

Customs official conducted a random check of baggage in a bus crossing into South Africa from Zimbabwe, spokesperson Marika Muller said in a statement.

They found an unlabelled bag and asked for the owner.

"A female passenger came forward and informed the official the bag contained groundnuts. However, when the official conducted a manual search he found a black plastic bag concealed in the groundnuts.

"When questioned the passenger attempted to flee but was brought back."

The bag was found to contain packages with labels indicating the contents were mining-related.

"The passenger and her luggage were taken to the SA Police Service station at Beit Bridge and the bag was confirmed as containing 54 packs of mining explosives, 150 detonators, and nine detonator cords valued at over R320 000."

She said the woman told officers she sold the explosives to illegal miners in Gauteng.

On Sunday several bundles of wiring used for explosives were found abandoned in the transit area at Beit Bridge, Muller said.