A DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) female national, who was recently arrested for violating the Immigration Act and later discovered to be hiding 56,85 grammes of gold alloy in her undergarments, was on Thursday further remanded in custody, pending trial on December 3.
BY SILAS NKALA
Mami Ngaluay Odette (54) was not asked to plead to a charge of illegal possession of gold alloy when she appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Langton Mkwengi.
Prosecutor Munyonga Kuvarega told the court that on November 20 at 5pm, Odette was arrested for violating the Immigrations Act and detained at Beitbridge Remand Prison.
It is the State case that on her admission to Beitbridge Prison, female prison officers who were on duty observed a piece of cloth hidden in her underwear.
They removed the piece of cloth and unwrapped it, only to discover that it contained three buttons of gold alloy weighing 56,85g.
Odette was asked to produce a licence or permit authorising her to possess gold, but she failed, leading to fresh charges being pressed against her.
The gold alloy was taken for assaying, where it was confirmed that it contained 24,011 grammes of gold valued at $960,44.
