A Cape Town mother is desperate to bring home her son, who she believes is in a jail in Brazil for smuggling drugs.
|||Cape Town - A Cape Town mother is desperate to bring home her son, who she believes is in a jail in Brazil for smuggling drugs.
Fagmiedah Meintjies, 45, from Tafelsig says her son Moegamat Gasan Davids, 24, was sent overseas as a drug mule and was caught on his way back home.
Gasan’s family says they were shocked to learn he was in South America, after he told his wife he was going to Langebaan with his grandfather to work on a construction site.
He left home on February 11, and was bust at a Brazilian airport on February 28.
After his arrest, he called home and told his wife that “he thinks he was bust because he unknowingly bought a stolen Samsung and iPhone in Brazil”.
His wife Fatima Davids, 23, who is about to give birth to their first child, says she “doesn’t know what to think anymore”.
Fagmiedah says a friend in the police told her Gasan was trying to smuggle poppy flowers, used in the manufacturing of opium, out of Brazil when he was caught.
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation confirmed Gasan’s arrest but could not divulge details.
Spokesperson for the department, Nelson Kgwete, said: “The department is aware of the situation of Mr Davids and is in contact with the family as per our policy and procedures. Officials at the SA embassy visited Davids in prison on 23 March.
“Mr Davids has not provided the department with the permission to convey any information about his situation to the media.”
But Gasan’s family says they are completely in the dark and have not been contacted by anyone.
Fagmiedah says she found out Gasan was overseas after a friend told her.
“I thought he was still in Mitchells Plain, then she said he went to Brazil. I couldn’t believe it because he calls me everyday and he visits often.”
Fatima said a friend of Gasan’s, “who was also in Brazil at the time”, told her of the arrest.
She said she found out from his stepmother that he was in Brazil.
“When I asked him about it [over the phone] he only said he was doing it for us,” she said.
She expected Gasan home on February 29 but he never arrived.
“On the 28th he told me [via Whatsapp] he was about to board his flight,” said Fatima.
“He said they were wrapping his bags, then he went through the gates at security and after that there was nothing. When he wasn’t here the next morning I panicked.”
Fatima said she doesn’t know about the “drug mule” story.
“Two days [after his arrest] he called me and said he was OK. He said he was detained at security because there was something wrong with the phones but he will be home soon.”
“I am supposed to give birth any day now but I am not ready because he promised he would be here.”
Daily Voice