To finance her treatment: she swallowed 100 pellets of cocaine.



P. Makhwellé, a South African student, faces ten years in prison, a sentence requested by the public prosecutor at the Mbour Criminal Court. L'Observateur, which attended the trial, revisits this case, the events of which date back to November 13, 2023. On that day, the young woman, arriving from South Africa, was stopped at Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) in Diass during a routine check due to her suspicious behavior.

Immediately separated from the passenger by customs officers at the airport, she underwent a urine test, which proved positive. The passenger was then taken to Dakar's Principal Hospital for further examination. This confirmed the presence of foreign objects in her system. Extraction yielded 100 pellets of cocaine concealed in her stomach, weighing a total of 1.5 kg and with an estimated street value of over 45 million CFA francs. Turned over to law enforcement, she has since appeared before the Criminal Court in Mbour.

In court, P. Makhwellé explained that she had turned to drug trafficking "to heal herself" after postpartum complications and her partner's abandonment. As reported by the newspaper of the Groupe Futurs Médias, she claimed to have bought the drugs in Johannesburg with money given to her by her father, on the advice of a friend who promised her opportunities in Senegal. However, she disputed the quantity cited in the case, stating "1 kg" instead of the 1.5 kg mentioned by the prosecution.

Despite the defendant's expressions of remorse and her plea for leniency, the prosecutor requested a ten-year prison sentence. The verdict is scheduled for November 20th.