Pretoria - Mystery surrounds how a Chinese man managed to smuggle diamonds, ivory, abalone and prescription ointment – all worth R6 million – on to a plane bound for Hong Kong.
The 36-year-old man was taken off the flight by Hawks officials as it was ready to leave.
”The flight was slightly delayed and the Hawks arrived just in time to pounce on him,” Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
The man had a fraudulent passport and when they searched his luggage the Hawks found polished diamonds, ivory, 10kg of wet abalone, a bag of dry abalone and a bag of Lenovate ointment which can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription.
In a dramatic twist, the man was arrested moments after his 48-year-old brother had been taken in by Pretoria police for attempting to bribe a Home Affairs official. Mulaudzi said the man approached the official and offered him a R3 000 bribe for checking, processing and authorising his brother’s passport.
”The officer alerted the Hawks and an operation was swiftly conducted,” said Mulaudzi.
“The man was nabbed in the act and investigations led the Hawks to his brother, who was already on board a flight to Hong Kong.”
He said they suspected the older brother to be part of a passport syndicate operating in Pretoria.
“He has previously been arrested for his role in the production of fake passports.”
Investigations will include how the man was able to get his loot on board the plane undetected and how immigration officials failed to detect the lack of authenticity of the travel document. OR Tambo International Airport has advanced biometric and scanning equipment to pick out items not allowed on flights.
New hi-tech scanners were recently introduced, and they can tell the difference between 40 different types of materials, including aluminium, plastic or organic material.
Luggage going on to aircraft is taken through a series of advanced scanners, which are designed to spot anything unusual.
”The passenger is always called in to witness luggage being opened up. Law enforcement, SA Revenue Service officials and airport security are always at hand to ensure passengers and luggage are given humane treatment,” Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) states on its website.
Following a spate of drug and other illegal substances busts at the international airport, Acsa confirmed it had stepped up its ability to control baggage going in and out of the country. Mulaudzi said: “The question is: was the man's luggage searched?”
“The brothers face charges of bribery, fraud, possession of diamonds, possession of ivory and possession of abalone,” a spokesman said.
They are due to appear in court on Monday – the older sibling in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court and his younger brother in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court.
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Pretoria News