Cape Town - Illicit and smuggled cigarettes worth R43 million are in the process of being destroyed.
This was announced by the Customs Division of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and it will take place at the Beitbridge border post.
The illicit and smuggled cigarettes were seized in intelligence-driven multi-agency operations as part of the Customs Division’s tobacco strategy, led by the National Rapid Response Team which is often supported by the SANDF, the SAPS and the Hawks, including the Immigration.
Sars deputy commissioner Johnstone Makhubu said a huge volume of cigarettes would be destroyed, in total 2 000 master cases, or 20 million cigarettes.
This process is likely to take place over a few days.
He added that in one such operation in February this year at the Beitbridge border post a total 1 211 master boxes of illicit cigarettes with brands of Remington Gold, Chelsea and Royal Express, with an estimated value of R26 million, were seized.
“Four people were arrested, and criminal cases opened with regard to dealing in the smuggling of illicit cigarettes,” he said. “Four trucks, one bakkie and one tractor with a trailer, which were used to carry the illicit cigarettes, were detained with an estimated value of over R3m.”
Sars media said no one is above the law.
“This means Sars has a zero tolerance for persons or organisations that are involved in tax crime or illicit trade and that Sars will pursue them relentlessly,” they said.
“Illicit trade robs the government of much-needed revenue and destroys industries, exacerbating unemployment, poverty and inequality. The illicit products which are being imported or exported include second-hand motor vehicles, poultry, clothing, leather and textiles, essential infrastructure (copper and steel) and gold.
“An inter-agency working group has been set up to deal with all aspects of illicit trade.”
The director of Customs and Excise, Beyers Theron, said that as part of its far-sighted planning, Customs has put in place measures to grant benefits to compliant traders through the Accredited Economic Operator model.
They said these benefits include cost-savings and quicker turnaround times.
“Sars is busy implementing Smart border technology to increase its detection capability and response to non-compliance,” said Theron.
“Since the inception of its co-ordinated and focused investigations Customs has been conducting over the past three years in the tobacco and cigarette industry, there has been a noticeable shift to increased cross-border smuggling using ‘runners’.
“These are not individuals smuggling these cigarettes as an entrepreneurial opportunity, but organised criminal syndicates exploiting the unemployed and the poor by employing individuals as runners to carry goods, often for miles, across borders.
“These runners carry at least two master cases of illicit cigarettes on their backs per run, often repeating these trips multiple times.
“These cigarettes are then loaded into trucks, small goods vehicles, cars and taxis, that wait at locations along the border for distribution to their intended destinations on the local market.”