POLICE RECOVER THOUSANDS OF RANDS WORTH OF ILLICIT CIGARETTES
POLOKWANE: The Joint Multidisciplinary Forces comprising the SAPS Border Policing Team, South African National Defence Force, South National Park Rangers and the South African Revenue Service, Customs embarked on a High Density Operation Vala Umgodi on Tuesday 21 May 2024 between Pointdrift and Musina.
The multidisciplinary team recovered a cargo of Illicit cigarettes worth thousands of rands. The illicit cigarettes were found loaded into a white Toyota Quantum minibus on gravel road in the bushes near Sangweni truck stop in Musina.The Cargo is believed to have been smuggled across Limpopo River from Zimbabwe.
This is after the suspects allegedly jumped out of the vehicle and fled the scene on foot into the bushes to evade arrest. The recovered cargo contained about 66 boxes of illicit cigarettes worth three hundred thousand rands(R300-000,00).
The Team also carried out various crime prevention operations such as vehicle checkpoints, foot patrol, and stop and searches. The two male suspects aged 35 and 42 were subsequently arrested for contravention of the Limpopo Liquor Act, dealing in liquor without the permit. The team ultimately confiscated hundreds of rands worth of alcohol from the two illegal liquor outlets.
In addition, twenty-nine foreign nationals were arrested for contravention of immigration act on the N1 highway alongside the Beitbridge Port of Entry.
The suspects are expected to appear before Musina Magistrate’s Court in the soon.
