Pretoria – Customs officials said on Friday that they had seized 437kg of male sexual enhancement pills (Viagra) with a street value of R30 million at OR Tambo International Airport at the weekend. This represents the biggest bust of sexual enhancement pills at the airport in the past year.
Customs officers became suspicious about the description on the cargo manifest and who it was consigned to. After searching the cases, they discovered the massive haul of Viagra.
Customs officials said there were increasing incidents of illicit products being smuggled into the country without the required permits and being sold on the black market. They have also been tasked with detaining all medicaments coming into the country on behalf of the Department of Health, if they have not been declared correctly, or do not have the required permits.
Customs was also involved in the following cases over the past few months:
- On 15 January 2018, a passenger arriving from India was intercepted and his luggage scanned. The scanner indicated irregular images which resulted in a luggage search. During inspection, 40 000 sexual enhancement tablets, valued at approximately R4 million, were found.
- On 30 October 2017, a shipment weighing 255kg from Mumbai to Johannesburg was intercepted at a cargo shed. Upon inspection, 35 680 Viagra Tablets, 2 589 steroid pills and other products were found. The total street value of the consignment was around R5.1 million.
- On 14 October 2017, a shipment weighing 17.5kg from India to Johannesburg was intercepted at a cargo shed. Upon inspection, 150 000 Viagra Tablets, valued at approximately R1.5 million were found.
All cases were handed over to the Department of Health for further investigation.