Sowetan

‘Drug mule’ cop’s happy FB posts

Cop quoted the Bible just before getting arrested

- By Peter Ramothwala

I’m going to Paris for my honeymoon, she told followers shortly before her arrest

Shocking conditions in Brazilian jail await her after she was caught allegedly smuggling cocaine

The South African police officer bust for cocaine at São Paulo Internatio­nal Airport was the envy of her friends on social media when she posted exotic sand sculptures on a Brazilian beach front.

Angel Adore Maluleke, 33, who was arrested last week after she was allegedly found with six bricks of cocaine in her luggage, arrived in Brazil on August 18 full of excitement and awe of the place, according to a series of Facebook posts on her profile.

She posted that she felt “awesome and at the same time bored” because it was raining.

And a few hours before her arrest she took to social media to quote the Bible declaring: “So do not fear for I’m with you, do not be dismayed, for I’m your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right.”

Maluleke’s timeline is also flooded with comments from friends and family admiring her posts about her travel.

In one post, one Facebook user wrote that he hoped she was enjoying Brazil to which she responded; “2much (sic) uncle this place is marvellous... next year I’m going to Paris for my honeymoon”. Another friend asked in Tsonga: “Milo ti humesa naa? (is that for pleasure)” Maluleke responded: “Ina makwavo (Yes my friend)”. After learning of her arrest another friend posted: “But then comes bad news, mara why Angel?

“I know you won’t see this message but why mara hey. Everyone was happy for you having gone that side but eish, we all shuttered (sic) really”. Other friends simply claimed that Maluleke could have been framed. Maluleke, who is facing the prospect of a lengthy jail term in Brazil, was raising funds to throw a belated birthday party for her one-year-old son, according to a close friend and a fellow policewoma­n. The friend, who asked not to be named, told Sowetan Maluleke wanted to prove to her boyfriend that she could throw her son the birthday party on her own.

‘‘ I didn’t think she would go that far ... she did things by the book

“She was stressed that she didn’t have enough money to throw her son a desired party. I learnt of her trip to Brazil when she texted me and informed me she was in Sao Paulo, and [that she] would tell me details of her travel when she returns,” the friend said.

She said she has known Maluleke for more than three years and that it was her friend’s first internatio­nal trip.

“I never thought she could go that far, she was a simple rural girl who always did everything according to the book. She never liked an expensive lifestyle,” she said.

 ??  ?? Angel Maluleke, the South African constable who was bust in Sao Paulo allegedly trying to smuggle out cocaine, posted this photo of a beach sand sculpture in Brazil on her Facebook page.
Angel Maluleke, the South African constable who was bust in Sao Paulo allegedly trying to smuggle out cocaine, posted this photo of a beach sand sculpture in Brazil on her Facebook page.
 ??  ?? Angel Maluleke
Angel Maluleke
 ?? / FACEBOOK ?? A friend says Angel Maluleke had a burning desire to throw her son a dream first birthday party.
/ FACEBOOK A friend says Angel Maluleke had a burning desire to throw her son a dream first birthday party.

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