Pretoria, 6 June 2016 – SARS Customs officials and the Detector Dog Unit intercepted narcotics valued at approximately R9 million in three different incidents at ports over the weekend.
The first incident happened at the Lebombo border post after Customs officials received a tip off from the South African Police Crime Intelligence about a suspicious vehicle.
The vehicle was stopped after the South African driver failed to report to customs.
A thorough search by officials and detector dogs found a large number of bags containing white powdery and crystal-like substances hidden in compartments between the bodywork and load bin of the vehicle. Access to these compartments was provided through special modified trapdoors, secured with hinges.
Altogether 51 bags of Ephedrine, each weighing about 1kg, with a street value of R3.7-million were seized.
Also, there were other 14 bags of Crystal Meth, each weighing 1kg, valued at R4.2-million that were seized.
In a separate incident, Customs officials detained illicit narcotics from two separate flights arriving from Sao Paulo yesterday (Sunday, 5 June 2016). In both cases the drugs were left behind in the toilet of the aircraft after the passengers had disembarked.
In one case, a piece of cloth that looked like a sock was found containing 55 bullets of suspected cocaine, valued at R414 000.
In the final case, Customs officials found an abandoned small red backpack under the toilet’s dustbin.
A detector dog indicated that the bag contained drugs that weighed 3kg worth R891 000.
The South African driver was handed over to the SAPS at Lebombo while the narcotics at OR Tambo International Airport were handed over to the Police for further investigation.
