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Customs officials of the South African Revenue Service seized illicit cigarettes declared as tissue paper to the value of R 10-million which arrived at the Durban harbour.
SARS said in a statement on Thursday that the Durban bust followed a recent operation in Cape Town where cigarettes to the value of R6-million were seized, bringing the total value of the two seizures to R16-million.
The Durban bust, this past weekend, was based on information received about a container that was imported from an East Asian Country with contents incorrectly declared as tissue paper.
“Due to the recent riots in KwaZulu Natal, the vessel was delayed at outer anchorage and the container was only released on the 16 July 2021. However, once the container was scrutinised on the Transnet system, it was established that the container contained illicit cigarettes, which may also be counterfeit,” SARS said.
It said as “Transnet core systems” began to recover (following a cyber-attack), the container was released from the port on 28 July.
SARS said it was eventually tracked down to a storage facility in Glen Anil where a search uncovered “950 master cases of Pacific 14mg cigarettes (illicit product) and 50 boxes of tissue paper.”
“The goods were detained and deposited at the SARS State Warehouse. A criminal case has been opened with the South African Police Service and investigations are ongoing,” SARS said.
