Ashley in isolation for two months
ASHLEY Oosthuizen, accused of being a drug mule, is in isolation in the Thailand prison where she is being detained and has been unable to speak with anyone for the past two months.
International experts who have researched and interviewed drug mules said younger women who were financially vulnerable could be targeted for the drug mule industry. They said that South Africa was the cornerstone for the illegal exchange of drugs as it was accessible via road or air, whether with Europe or African countries.
In a statement, her family said: “Due to a few people infected with covid-19, all inmates were quarantined. No one was allowed any form of outside communication. By the grace of God, our daughter was not affected at all and is still in good health and high spirits. We are able to speak with her once a month for 10 minutes.”
A week ago, Oosthuizen’s support Facebook page, which was updated by an administrator who is in contact with her family, said the young woman is in isolation due to the pandemic.
The post on the Facebook page, A Voice for Ashley Oosthuizen, said: “The past few weeks there has been a decrease in the information stream.
“We do know that Ashley is currently in isolation and has not yet been able to speak with anyone outside the prison for more than two months now. This has not discouraged us, it has rather fuelled an initiative we cannot wait to share with you!
“Keep your eyes open because in the next few weeks we’ll be sharing new ways how you can help Ashley from afar, and hopefully a couple fellow South Africans as well.”
Oosthuizen’s mother, Lynette Blignaut, did not respond to Weekend Argus for comment. She previously indicated that the family was awaiting the outcome of the appeal and that they had placed their faith in God and did not want to say much publicly, which could impact the case.
Oosthuizen, from George, made headlines earlier this year after it was revealed that she was one of many South African women imprisoned in foreign prisons for alleged drug trafficking charges.
Her story went viral after her former boyfriend, Tristan Nettles, via Facebook, made a full confession, and sent this to the George Herald where he admitted to being an international drug trafficker who had learnt the crime trade as a young child. Nettles is now living in the US.
Oosthuizen was employed as a kindergarten
teacher on Koh Samui Island after leaving her home in George in 2018 and met Nettles, who was an American teacher.
Oosthuizen had lost her job and Nettles offered her a position at a restaurant called Hot Biscuit where she designed the branding for the business.
Oosthuizen claimed she accepted a package by a delivery man on behalf of someone else and this was filled with 250 grams of MDMA (ecstacy) and was arrested.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has said that there are more than 790 South African citizens in prisons around the wound, 71% of them for drug-related offences. Dirco national spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele has said they cannot comment on any latest developments but are aware of the situation.
“Out of respect for individuals and families of people arrested outside of
the borders, we do not provide details to the media but to families,” he said.
Jason Eligh, a senior expert for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime who has researched and interviewed drug mules specifically in Southern Africa and East Africa and has knowledge of the trade internationally, says younger women who are financially vulnerable can be targeted by a recruiter.
“I think it is fair to say that women, generally, are targeted more than men to be drug mules,” he said.
“There are many reasons why women get involved in this kind of activity.
“If you look at the way law enforcement profiles travellers, which is one of the main ways that these mules can get identified, they would profile younger female travellers, travelling alone, coming from a known origin point where narcotics are being moved.
“They tend to be at more risk of being profiled than a family moving through. We have interviewed female and male mules, of all age groups, so it is not restricted to younger people.but certainly, younger people are vulnerable.”
He also said it was impossible to gauge how many drug mules made their way through airports and prisons internationally.
“Countries like Thailand, who are more conservative and stricter, are seeing more foreigners inside their prisons for the offence of drug trafficking.
“We have to remember this is an activity that occurs widely internationally.
“When we look at this, we tend to look (focus) on only those who have been caught because that is where we get our information, but it is an economic activity for drug traffickers that is quite lucrative
“I do not think it is possible to know the volume of people who have been recruited into this activity because of the inception of all the cases that are successful.
“Asian countries in particular are a lot stricter, and it is a challenge; several countries even have the death penalty for drug trafficking.”
He said that South Africa itself was a corner point for trade as it was located centrally between Europe and African countries where illegal imports of cocaine to methamphetamine were brought and that the legal transportation route was also used for illicit trade.
“South Africa is a cornerstone on the continent for the movement of cocaine, from Latin America, to Europe and Asia, for heroin from South Asia. Meth from Afghanistan and South Asia and Latin America.
“Synthetic drugs are coming in from Europe; you think of drugs like MDMA, other party-type drugs.
“South Africa has a strong domestic drug market. What I mean by that is, that there is a lot of consumption in South Africa, but also South Africa is centrally located, so it is a good transit hub for drug smuggling from a point of origin to other destinations.
“Where legal trade goes, also illegal trade goes...”