Confessions of a Namibian drug mule

In 2014 Namibian national *Destiny Tjombe was released from a Brazilian prison after serving five years on drug trafficking charges. A year after her release, Tjombe was interviewed by The Namibian to recount her horror. This is her story:

“It is no use crying. You knew what you were getting yourself into when you came here.”

Namibian national Destiny Tjombe*(38) tells her South African inmate while awaiting their fate in a cold Brazilian cell.

Unlike the South African drug mule, Tjombe says she had no idea drugs had been planted in her luggage.

She was one of 11 Namibians who were serving time for drug trafficking in South Africa and Brazil at the time, after she was arrested in August of 2009 when drugs were found stashed in her luggage.

Drug trafficking is a serious offence in Brazil.

Tjombe says she only discovered she was used as a drug mule when two Brazilian police officers asked her if the bag containing a white substance was hers.

Four days before, Tjombe was still leading a normal life in Windhoek with her husband and son.

IRRESISTIBLE OFFER

Things quickly changed when a Nigerian businessman named ‘Delington’ approached her at Soweto Market with an offer she could not refuse.

“He said he wanted someone to go to Brazil to buy Brazilian hair for him. I jumped at the opportunity to travel to a foreign country with all expenses paid,” she says.

Tjombe flew to São Paulo and met a man who introduced himself as Frank – Delington’s brother – at the airport.

“I was supposed to collect the hair from him and be on my way back to Namibia the following day,” she says.

However, when Frank did not provide the hair as agreed, Tjombe began to ask questions.

“He told me he was no longer buying the hair as it was too expensive, but he had something else for me.”

Frank arrived at her hotel the following morning with 42 pairs of jeans she had to deliver to Delington.

“He had already packed the jeans in a bag, but I asked if I could empty the bag just to be sure it was only jeans that were in the bag. When I was satisfied, I prepared to return home,” she says.

But Tjombe never returned home to her family.

Instead, the police discovered 5kg of cocaine sewn into the waists of the jeans at the airport.

She tried to explain to the authorities that she did not know about this, but they would hear none of it.

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS

This was the beginning of a nightmare in a Brazilian women’s prison that lasted five years.

Tjombe says she did not hear from the Namibian embassy for two years.

The prison’s conditions were brutal and inhumane.

The cells were always overcrowded and inmates would often fight.

Tjombe says on her second day in the cells, she received a rude awakening.

“A Brazilian woman deliberately poured hot coffee on my chest without any provocation. I had been warned that the older inmates usually took delight in bullying newcomers, but I decided to stand up for myself and retaliated, and a fierce fight broke out.

“Prison wardens knew she was a troublemaker and they locked her up in a dark solitary cell for 30 days as part of her punishment,” she says.

“I met women from different countries. We were 1 200 inmates, most of us jailed for drug trafficking.”

They were also sharing cells with convicted murderers.

“Those who crossed paths with some of the dangerous inmates were murdered inside the cells and the prison wardens never got to know the perpetrators.

“I was careful not to make any enemies and kept to myself,” she says.

She says most of the murders, which she has witnessed herself, took place in the showers when inmates were less alert.

“We kept our mouths shut or we would also be targets,” she says.

FIGHTING ALONE

“After another Namibian woman was arrested and locked up in the same jail because of drugs, I met Namibian embassy officials for the first time,” she says.

After the arrest of a second Namibian woman, five more joined – also on drug trafficking charges.

“The officials paid us a visit and asked what we needed. I told them I did not need anything from them because I had been in jail the entire time and they did not bother to assist me,” she says.

Tjombe says she tried in vain to get a fair trial with the assistance of the embassy.

“They did nothing to help me. I fought my battles alone.”

In 2013, Tjombe wrote to the Brazilian justice ministry, requesting it to reconsider her case.

An official at the Namibian embassy in Brazil said he could not discuss the matter with the media and referred The Namibian to the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.

FINALLY HOME

After serving five years in the Brazilian prison, Tjombe returned home. She was finally reunited with her family in April 2014.

“I never thought I would come out of prison alive,” she says.

Tjombe has since been trying to rebuild her life and raise her son.

“Wanting to see my son again was the only thing that gave me hope inside prison,” she says.

“I can never forgive the men who did this to me and the Namibian embassy for neglecting me when I needed them the most,” she says.

Tjombe says she has learnt a few lessons in prison.

“Never trust strangers and foreigners who approach you with promises of deals that sound too good to be true. Work hard for your success and do not rely on get-rich-quick schemes,” she says.

Director of multilateral affairs in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation Jerobeam Shaanika says the role of Namibian missions abroad in such cases is to provide citizens as much support as possible.

“The missions concerned normally provide consular services to ensure that the [Namibian] suspects or convicts are treated fairly and with dignity. They also ensure that citizens have legal representation,” he says.

– This article has been shortened and modified after originally being published in 2015.

*Not her real name