Cape Town – South African customs officials have confiscated more than 14 000 pairs of undeclared sneakers with an estimated street value of R11.3 million at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique, the SA Revenue Service said on Sunday.
“This is the largest bust, with the highest value ever seized at the Lebombo border post,” Sars said of the bust, which happened on Thursday.
Customs officials found 14,167 pairs of sneakers, almost half of them branded Converse All Stars, is a truck and trailer they stopped in the cargo bypass area of the border post. The rest were labelled Puma, Nike and Adidas but Sars said there was a possibility that the shoes were counterfeit.
The driver had handed in documents claiming that both the truck and trailer were empty.
“The sneakers were detained pending Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) verification by the various brand holders. The truck was also detained to determine if it is liable for forfeiture,” Sars said.
ANA