Malawi court adjourns Venezuelan drug case: Lack of Spanish interpreter delayed Police
A case involving a 24-year-old woman from the South American country of Venezuela arrested by Malawian police for attempting to smuggle narcotics has been adjourned by Blantyre Magistrate Court to July 12 after she has been formally charged of drug trafficking.
Andreina Mendez Torres was arrested on July 3 at Blantyre-Chileka International Airport after being found with 250 brushes to beat the Police Security.
According to information, informants alerted Malawian authorities of the existence of a drug mule on an Ethiopian Airways flight, which jetted in from Nairobi, Kenya to Lilongwe, Malawi, before attempting to refuel in Blantyre.
Christopher Katani, prosecuting, informed the court that Police delayed to obtain a statement from the suspect because she could not speak English and they were looking for an interpretor.
Katani said an interpreter Spanish and Portuguese has been identified and he introduced him to court as Peter Phiri.
The prosecutor said the suspect was taken to court to be formally charged.
“The suspect has been brought here to let her know why she us in police custody. This is according to Section 42, 2(b) of the Constitution of Malawi,” said the prosecutor.
Katani, who is being assisted in prosecution by Patricio Philemon, asked for seven days to finish investigation on the matter.
“We would like to take the suspect together wuth the susbstance she was found with to Lilongwe to the Poisons Board fro examinations,” Katani told the court.
Senior Resident Magistrate Simeone Mdeza adjourned the case but ordered the State to conclude investigation by July 12.
He said justice should not be delayed in the matter.
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Immigration officials say she is Malawian. and cautions the Malawi media from rushing on publicizing the story. saw the PRO saying this on News Outlook at MBC. But why the media?
I think she is lying she does not speak English Most Spanish speaking people can converse in Portuguese.
Ethiopian Airlines from Nairobi to Lilongwe? It would have been interesting to know the relationship between the brushes and the drug. Were the drugs hidden inside the brushes or the brushes were packed in the same parcels holding the drugs? Do we know where she boarded the flight and where she was heading to?