CAPE TOWN: South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs officials on Tuesday conducted random inspections at the OR Tambo International Airport mail centre‚ where a parcel‚ which arrived from India and destined for Johannesburg‚ was searched and found to contain the stimulant drug Ephedrine to the value of R1‚035.000 hidden inside lace packages‚ SARS said on Wednesday.
This follows several other successful busts by SARS Customs in the last two weeks at several ports of entry.
On August 6‚ customs officials discovered 4‚979 pairs of counterfeit shoes with an estimated street value of R3.9-million at the Lebombo border post. The shoes were discovered when officials stopped a truck entering South Africa from Mozambique for inspection. Documentation handed to officials indicated that the truck was transporting empty crates.
On August 4 officials discovered 2‚12 kg of heroin‚ estimated at R429‚451 when the laptop bags of two travellers entering South Africa from Swaziland were inspected.
In July‚ at OR Tambo airport about 13‚3 kg of crystal meth valued at approximately R4-million was discovered in a bag of a passenger arriving from Abu Dhabi‚ while 3kg of Ephedrine valued at about R900‚000 was found hidden with leg pads used by cricketers sent from India.
On July 27 a woman arriving on a flight from Madagascar was stopped by customs officers while departing the customs area through the “nothing to declare” channel. An inspection of her bags resulted in officials discovering 6kg of heroin worth R1.8-million‚ while at Golela officials discovered 2.5kg of heroin valued at approximately R720‚000 while inspecting the laptop bag of a male and female traveller coming into South Africa from Swaziland.
“These are amongst the major seizures by SARS Customs who implement daily inspections at all points of entry in an effort to foil the smuggling of prohibited goods and close the gap of illicit financial flows.
“SARS will continue to work with other law enforcement agencies to protect the country and its citizens by disrupting organised crime and reducing illicit trade activities‚” a SARS spokesman said.
