Durban - Customs officials at King Shaka International Airport in Durban confiscated drugs, illegal skin lightening cream and counterfeit clothes worth a combined R20 million on Thursday, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said in statement.
Officials used a detector dog to sniff out the drugs which were found hidden in a parcel of mascaras bound for Liberia.
"A physical inspection found 15.63 kg of heroine with street value of R3.1 million concealed in the lids of the mascaras," Sars said.
The drugs was handed over to the SA Police Service for further investigation.
Officials also detained a shipment from Lagos, Nigeria. The shipment, which was declared as hair attachments, was found to contin 2,469 kilograms of illegal skin lightening treatments. The shipment was valued at R12.9 million.
In the last detection by the customs officials, a shipment of 7,380 shirts, from Hong Kong via Dubai valued at R6.2 million was seized.
"Upon physical examination the contents of the shipment were found to be branded football shirts suspected to be counterfeit. The shipment was detained for further investigation," Sars said.