JOHANNESBURG, December 22 (ANA) – A 60-year-old man was arrested after officials made a discovery of US$660,000 in a passenger’s luggage at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, the South African Revenue Services (Sars) said on Thursday.
The money was discovered on Monday, “stashed in denominations of 20, 50 and 100 dollar bills in two cooler bags and found in the luggage” of the man.
Sars said that custom officers had “received information that the passenger, en route to Indonesia via Dubai, was in possession of undeclared currency” valued at R9.2 million.
“[The man] was formally charged with smuggling and failure to declare goods in contravention of the Customs and Excise Act. A criminal case has been registered with the Department of Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks),” Sars said.
Sars said that the amount of foreign currency South African residents could have in their possession when leaving the country should be to the value of R160,000 per adult, and R50,000 per child under the age of 12 for each calendar year.
“When taking currency out of the country, prior clearance from an authorised dealer on an official letterhead must be produced to Customs. Without such clearance only an amount equalling R25,000 is allowed per person,” said Sars.
The man is expected to appear in court soon.
– African News Agency (ANA)
