SOUTH African Revenue Service (SARS) customs officers recently scored several victories in the fight against the trade in illegal cigarettes with a search-and-seizure operation in three cities and a bust at the Kopfontein border post.
In Kempton Park, Pretoria and Joburg, 22 shops were raided and illegal cigarettes valued at R2.4 million were seized in a joint operation between SARS Customs, the SAPS, The Department of Home Affairs and the Metro Police.
At the Kopfontein border post, Customs officials searched a tanker, which had arrived from Botswana, and discovered three false compartments. The compartments were packed with 355 master cases of illegal cigarettes, valued at over R5.5m. The truck and cigarettes were detained for further investigation.
At Beitbridge, Customs officials supported by SAPS and the SANDF began to destroy illegal cigarettes from previous seizures valued at over R30m at the state warehouse, with another destruction of illegal cigarettes planned to take place in Pretoria in two weeks.
Due to the volume of the illegal cigarettes, the Beitbridge destruction will continue for several days. The machinery used by SARS destroys the cigarettes in an environmentally friendly manner and the finely crushed cigarettes are then buried at a landfill site.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the seizure and destruction of illegal cigarettes was an important signal of government’s commitment to root out the illegal trade in goods such as cigarettes, clothing and textiles, second-hand motor vehicles and scrap metal, among others.
“While we are pleased with these successes, we still have a significant amount of work ahead in order to address this scourge of criminal behaviour, which distorts our domestic economy, erodes the tax base and destroys employment opportunities. We are also concerned about the lack of consistent standards and consequent health and other risks presented to consumers as a result of illicit goods and trade,” Kieswetter said.
“We make an appeal to consumers to be vigilant and avoid the temptation of the lower price these products often appear to offer in the short term, and to consider the long term harm to themselves as well as the broader society.”
Customs officers also reported several other busts over the past week.
On Wednesday, officers at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) discovered 80kg of Crystal Methamphetamine valued at approximately R24m. The crystal meth was hidden in cargo declared as “sewing material” and destined for Israel via Istanbul.
The same day, officers searching in the cargo section at ORTIA discovered sexual enhancement medication, valued at approximately R45 220 000, which had been improperly declared.