Former Durban cop back home after drugs 'set-up' in South America

[schumi]

Forget about going to South America, on holiday or for business.

So says former metro policeman Ed Thompson, who flew home this week after nearly four years in Peruvian prisons for cocaine trafficking.

The Durban man vehemently denies having committed the crime and claims to have been framed before being thrown to the wolves on a strange continent where “all they are interested in is getting money out of you and putting you in jail”.

“There’s no law there and they presume we (foreigners) are all there for the drugs. There’s a good chance of somebody using you for drugs while you’re there. It’s so set up. Whether you’re there on holiday or business, you’ll be used in some way.”

Thompson, 45, said he had been working as a bodyguard in early 2016 and was sent to Ecuador to meet a client, who never showed up. So, he headed home, passing through Lima, Peru’s capital, in transit.

There, authorities apprehended him with a bag he said he had never seen before, filled with clothes too small to fit him, and with a hand-written baggage tag bearing his name and flight number. Also inside was cocaine.

Thompson said he was instantly issued a visa to enter Peru, then sent “somewhere in Lima, in handcuffs, leg irons and shackles” before appearing in court where, with no diplomatic assistance, he was asked three questions that were not translated by an interpreter.

His sentence: six years and eight months with the option of parole.

“A lawyer advised me to co-operate and get six years or, if I could not prove my innocence, get 15 years and have to serve the full sentence,” he said.

In prison, everything from drinking water to buckets for washing, toothpaste and toilet paper, came at a price. A consultation with a doctor would lead to a prescription for medication that the prisoner would have to source from outside and pay for at an inflated price. Safety, too, which was offered by the few prisoners who spoke some English, was an opportunity to exploit new foreign inmates whom they saw as a source of dollars.

But a bitter memory Thompson brought back with him is of “a lying, thieving piece of sh** called Roland” - a Hollander employed as a “consultant” by the South African Embassy who dealt with him and his father back in Durban.

“My requests for help were just fobbed off. He claimed money my family sent him to buy me stuff was given to ‘some lawyer’.” However, he received money sent through other channels by family and friends back home who mobilised social media on his behalf.

Things turned better three-and-a-half years into his incarceration with the arrival of Elsie Dipuo Tlali at the South African embassy. He believes she took public transport to visit him at a remote prison where he had been banished. She also brought him supplies.

“I believe she paid for everything herself. The embassy had always said it had no budget for visiting prisoners.”

More at : https://www.iol.co.za/ios/news/form...-after-drugs-set-up-in-south-america-36484661

 

[RedViking]

Hectic.

 

[Wut]

I know someone who had a similar thing happen to them. He was going on a trip to Thailand from CT and was pulled over at immigration because a bag with his name on it was found full of drugs. Luckily he was pulled over at immigration in SA as it would have been a lifetime sentence if he was caught in Asia.

He had never seen the bag before and everything in it was brand new while all his personal stuff in his real luggage wasn't.

 

[Paul_S]

Other than not traveling at all and avoiding certain problem countries, how can someone prevent this from this happening to themselves?
It's your word against immigration.

What we need are independent parties to document and certify the contents of one's luggage being checked in at the check in counters as well as hand luggage.
If something is slipped into one's luggage by a baggage handler you'll at least have a third party witness to prove that it was not present in the carry on luggage or checked in luggage.

Very scary!

 

[Jopie Fourie]

Uh.. okay, whatever.

 

[werfie]

Other than not traveling at all and avoiding certain problem countries, how can someone prevent this from this happening to themselves?
It's your word against immigration.

What we need are independent parties to document and certify the contents of one's luggage being checked in at the check in counters as well as hand luggage.
If something is slipped into one's luggage by a baggage handler you'll at least have a third party witness to prove that it was not present in the carry on luggage or checked in luggage.

Very scary!

Maybe lock and wrap your bag and you get luggage tags with barcodes and numbers on it. Take a photo of the bags and tags with the check-in Agent.

But I guess in a shithole country with no law and order you will probably out of luck.

 

[Paul_S]

Maybe lock and wrap your bag and you get luggage tags with barcodes and numbers on it. Take a photo of the bags and tags with the check-in Agent.

But I guess in a shithole country with no law and order you will probably out of luck.

Wrapping, locking and taking photos proves nothing and prevents nothing. I can take photos of my luggage before slipping something into it.
Locks and wrapping are easy to remove.

 

[ponder]

Other than not traveling at all and avoiding certain problem countries, how can someone prevent this from this happening to themselves?

Travel with no luggage.

 

[Paul_S]

Travel with no luggage.

That doesn't prevent someone from adding luggage as what happened to the Durban cop.

 

[Eniigma]

Other than not traveling at all and avoiding certain problem countries, how can someone prevent this from this happening to themselves?
It's your word against immigration.

What we need are independent parties to document and certify the contents of one's luggage being checked in at the check in counters as well as hand luggage.
If something is slipped into one's luggage by a baggage handler you'll at least have a third party witness to prove that it was not present in the carry on luggage or checked in luggage.

Very scary!

God no, please don't give them any more stupid ideas. There is enough stupid rules with air travel as it is.

Just keeps your eyes open and check your bags, if something looks tampered with speak to the authorities before doing anything else. I never had issues with and of my solo trips to the far east, including Thailand and Malaysia. I'd rather take my chances with the authorities by coming forward if my bag looks tampered with, than trying to talk my way out of something if I just ignored it and walked out.

Reality is what are the chances of something like this happening to you? Probably at greater risk being struck by lighting or winning the lotto than framed for this.

 

[Gordon_R]

Reality is what are the chances of something like this happening to you? Probably at greater risk being struck by lighting or winning the lotto than framed for this.

I think it depends on where you travel, and for what reason. I don't know many people who go to Ecuador and Peru for tourism, nor for 'business'...

And do we automatically accept the victim's version of the story, in the absence of clear evidence?

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

You do know that Peru has major tourism aspects right, like 3 million+ a year ..... not many people

OT - wrap the absolute poop out your luggage, clingwrapped stuff is hard to tamper with. Also, make use of established tour companies for any 3rd world destinations, safer than a diy holiday there

 

[Willie Trombone]

Don't travel to these countries at all. End of. Until they sort out their problems, don't make them yours. Rather visit civilized parts of the world.

 

[Dairyfarmer]

Ever noticed how few people get caught with drugs going through SA? The baggage handling system makes sure that the bags are clean by the time you get them. They often also remove dirty clothes for you as well as removing high priced items so that you don't need to pay duty on them.