The wife of South Africa's intelligence minister was convicted on Thursday of drug trafficking for using young women as mules to smuggle cocaine into the country.
Sheryl Cwele, who is married to state security minister Siyabonga Cwele, was convicted along with Nigerian Frank Nabolisa in the High Court in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg. Both had pleaded not guilty.
Judge Piet Koen said the two had clearly worked together to recruit two women as drug mules, according to the Sapa news agency.
The verdict had originally been expected on Wednesday, but was delayed after prosecutors sought to introduce new evidence, which the judge refused.
Cwele was arrested in January 2010 and has been out on bail. Sentencing was set for Friday, when the pair face minimum jail terms of 15 years.
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