{"id":13948,"date":"2011-12-15T07:21:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T07:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/"},"modified":"2011-12-15T07:21:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-15T07:21:00","slug":"dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dec<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Nobanda Nolubabalo was searched when police said they noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Police found 1.5 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $150 000 hidden in her dreadlocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

The parents of suspected drug mule Nolubabalo Nobanda didn\u2019t even know that their daughter had a passport \u2013 let alone that she had left the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was so shocked, very shocked, when they heard the news. They can\u2019t associate this with her,\u201d said the family\u2019s spokesman, advocate Ntsiki Sandi, who added that they had thought she was in South Africa at the time of her arrest.<\/p>\n

So far the family haven\u2019t had contact with her, he said. \u201cIf her family had the money, her mother would be on a plane (to Thailand) tomorrow.\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are plans, he said, to raise money for the trip.<\/p>\n

The South African ambassador to Thailand, Douglas Gibson, said on Wednesday he would be visiting Nobanda on Thursday when she is transferred from the police cells to the women\u2019s prison in Bangkok.<\/p>\n

The family are hoping they will learn more of Nobanda\u2019s fate from Gibson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family\u2019s main concern is for her safety. We are also looking at what her chances of legal representation are and trying to see how the legal system works over there,\u201d Sandi said.<\/p>\n

News of Nobanda\u2019s arrest had been kept a secret from her grandmother, who suffers from diabetes, until she kept hearing her granddaughter\u2019s name on the radio.<\/p>\n

A family member said she thought maybe her granddaughter had made some academic achievement. The family broke the news to her on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old was arrested at an airport in Bangkok on Monday after 1.5kg of cocaine was discovered hidden among her dreadlocks.<\/p>\n

Thai customs officials searched Nobanda when they noticed white powder in her hair. She later told authorities that she planned to meet someone at a hotel in Bangkok and hand over the drugs. She was to be paid R16 000 on her return to South Africa.<\/p>\n

Sandi said Nobanda had returned to Grahamstown from Joburg, where she was apparently studying, two weeks ago. \u201cIt was rumoured that she was going around with a girl, but we don\u2019t know who that was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandi could not say where she was studying. In 2007 Nobanda had been registered as a student at Wits University.<\/p>\n

In an earlier statement, Wits denied that Nobanda was a student there.<\/p>\n

Later, however, spokeswoman Shirona Patel said: \u201cBased on new information and on further investigation, the university can confirm that Nolubabalo Nobanda was registered as a student at the university in 2007. We have no record of her having renewed her registration as a full-time student from 2008 to date. The university regrets any confusion caused pertaining to this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Gibson told The Star that there are nine South Africans serving time in Thailand for drug offences.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne South African has been serving a sentence in Thailand for 16 years already\u2026 there are those who are coming out only in 2032,\u201d Gibson said, adding that part of the embassy\u2019s role was to act as a conduit between the families and the convicts.<\/p>\n

The DA called on International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to ensure that Nobanda\u2019s human rights were protected.<\/p>\n

The party also said it would be monitoring how the government handles the situation and would be writing to Nobanda. – The Star<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Continued here:
\nDreadlock drug arrest a shock for family<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. Nobanda Nolubabalo was searched when police said they noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nDreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\". Nobanda Nolubabalo was searched when police said they noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-15T07:21:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\"},\"wordCount\":592,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\",\"name\":\"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-15T07:21:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":". Nobanda Nolubabalo was searched when police said they noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family","datePublished":"2011-12-15T07:21:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/"},"wordCount":592,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/","name":"Dreadlock drug arrest a shock for family - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-15T07:21:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/15\/dreadlock-drug-arrest-a-shock-for-family\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/dec-15-pic-drug-mule-8-1.1199166!\/image\/634825521.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/634825521.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}