Eastern Cape link to Miami drug bust

Seven suspects – among them a 23-year-old woman, Viwe Tshaka, from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape – have been set bail of $250,000 (R3.4m) by a Miami Federal Court following their arrest on drug charges in Miami in the United States.
According to an article in the Miami Herald dated November 26, customs and border protection officers allegedly found six crew members with a total of 17 pounds (just over 7kg) of cocaine on their bodies or in their cabins during a K9 drug sweep of the MSC Seaside cruise liner on November 17.
The article said Tshaka, together with Wandile Mhlongo, 29, Londiwe Shange, 27, and Thembeka Sokhulu, 36, from KwaZulu-Natal and three others, were part of the seven crew members who were arrested on charges of smuggling cocaine into the US at Port Miami. They were all employed as crew members.
Tshaka was barely a month back into her job on her second contract when the arrest happened on November 17.
Tshaka secured the job on the cruise ship through the South African Maritime Safety Authority’s (Samsa) youth development programme.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch on Friday, Samsa’s youth development programme manager Sizwe Mkukwana said Tshaka was part of 97 South African youth, who were selected to work on the cruise ship.
“We have placed over 300 youths on the MSC for the past three years. It is unfortunate that despite our efforts to prepare them for work something like this happened”, said Mkukwana.
He said Tshaka was a member of the kitchen staff.
“Apparently they [accused] instructed the US Embassy not to inform anyone about this and not even the South African embassy. It was only when Tshaka’s mother called that we learnt about the arrest.
“Officials from the South African embassy have since met with them and assured that they were in good health and Tshaka was not in need of any medical attention,” said Mkukwana.
Tshaka’s mother, who refused to give her first name, said the family was still in the dark and was not ready to speak to the media.
Crew member Damion Hawthorne, 32, was arrested on charges of hiring five of the crew members into the smuggling operation.
Customs officers reportedly found less than 1kg of cocaine in the backpacks of Errol Roy Sutherland, 39, and Carl Michael Smith, 27.
Mkukwana said the suspects pleaded not guilty and remained in the Miami detention centre.
No response was received from MSC USA spokesperson Alyssa Goldfarb...

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