Police dealt another blow to international cocaine smuggling operations this week, after busting a man who concealed 4kg of the drug in chocolate wrappers.

Police received information that the drugs were being smuggled from Dubai to Cape Town, and were ready to pounce when the 37-year-old landed at Cape Town International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

The drugs have an estimated street value of R2.4 million.

This latest bust is small in comparison to the string of operations, that yielded fast amounts of confiscated cocaine since early 2019, worth over R3 billion.

A recent report identified South Africa as a major transit point for Latin American cocaine.

One of the largest seizures came on 30 July 2021 when police found one ton of cocaine in a shipping container at the port of Durban, that had arrived from Brazil’s port of Santos.

According to the report, South Africa is a crucial nexus in the global cocaine trade, with a rapidly expanding domestic market.

Some of the recent cocaine busts:

• 8 January 2019: Hawks intercepted 706kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R706 million, hidden beneath thousands of containers at Port Elizabeth harbour.
• May 2021: A massive cocaine bust involving a fishing vessel off the coast of Saldanha yielded 973 blocks of compressed cocaine worth an estimated R583 million.
• June 2021: Hawks discover 541kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R216 million, in canvas bags placed in a legitimate shipment of animal food at Isipingo, Durban.
• June 2021: Hawks intercept a boat pulled by a bakkie on the N1 near Tshwane. The boat was filled with 805kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R400 million. Eight people were arrested and charged.
• 9 July 2021: The Hawks seized a container in Durban to be transported to Johannesburg, which contained 715kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of R286 million. Six suspects were arrested, including two police officials and a traffic officer.
• 30 July 2021: An operation by the Hawks led to the discovery of 1 000kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R400 million, in black canvas bags placed inside a legitimate consignment of vehicle/truck parts.
• February 2022: A drug mule, Cavalcante Amarante was arrested at Cape Town International Airport about travelling from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Cape Town via Qatar airline. Cocaine weighing 2.7kg was concealed in her luggage and shoes.
• 4 August 2022: Three suspects are arrested after allegedly being caught trafficking 675kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of R403 million.They had concealed the drugs in false wooden boards, stacked at the back of a truck, when it was intercepted on the N1 towards Cape Town.