Angolan drug mule remains in custody

The Angolan national who was arrested after he allegedly tried to smuggle a consignment of swallowed cocaine into Namibia on Monday last week is remaining in police custody after making two appearances in court.

The case in which Huyeye Joao (41) is charged with dealing in cocaine and possession of cocaine to the value of N$423 500 was struck from the court roll when Joao made a belated first appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura on Thursday. The striking of the case was of little benefit to Joao, though, as the police promptly rearrested him on the same charges, on which he again appeared in court on Friday.

Magistrate Vanessa Stanley struck the case from the court roll after she was informed that Joao, who was arrested on Monday, did not appear in court within 48 hours after his arrest as required in terms of the Constitution.

With his second appearance on Friday, Joao told magistrate Bernedine Kubersky his case had been discharged and that he did not understand why he had not been released after the previous day's court proceedings. Following an explanation from public prosecutor Ellen Shipena, who told the magistrate that Joao had been rearrested, magistrate Kubersky told him that his case had merely been struck from the roll.