A large wooden box believed to contain spare parts was opened by members of the Special Striking Team (SST) at police headquarters and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (Cans) of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) on Thursday March 28. Skunk cannabis of South African origin was discovered. Having arrived the day before from Johannesburg, the SST had received information that drugs were hidden there. This information turned out to be true, as 30 kilos of cannabis commonly known as “lake sa” were found in the box, which was only supposed to contain spare parts. The market value of the drug is Rs 74,875,000. A woman in whose name the parcel was addressed was arrested for the purposes of the investigation.
The parcel arrived at the Plaisance Air Transport Services (PATS) warehouse on the evening of Wednesday March 27, in the name of a woman. PATS, led by Superintendent of Police Ashik Jagai, had received information that the parcel had arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa, and was believed to contain drugs. A surveillance was set up and on Thursday morning, March 28, after a warrant was obtained, the package was opened. This was after it had been scanned by Cans officers.
The box contained several carefully wrapped parcels hidden between spare parts, several of which were seized in the form of air filters. A woman whose name, address and telephone number appeared on the invoice was arrested as part of the investigation. As of Thursday evening, she was still being questioned about the drug seizure.
