Cigarettes smuggler fined

being shipped from Blantyre to Johannesburg.
Chisamba works for Load Masters Limited in that country.
Police detectives from the Border Control Unit arrested Chisamba following a tip-off on Friday evening.
He admitted to contravening a section of the Customs and Excise Act when he appeared before the Beitbridge resident magistrate Miss Gloria Takundwa.
The cigarettes were forfeited to the State.
Prosecutor Miss Memory Mandityira told the court that Chisamba entered the country on October 18 driving a Malawian registered truck registration BN4086 (horse) and trailer BN5500.
He was shipping a consignment of 400 bags of tea to Johannesburg.
He went about all the customs and immigration formalities where he declared to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority that the truck was only carrying a shipment of tea destined for South Africa.
The truck was scheduled to leave for South Africa in the evening.
Chisamba ran out of luck when detectives received information about his money spinning adventure.
The police then tipped Zimra officials to look out for the truck.
He later drove the truck to the border post upon receiving customs documentation to proceed to South Africa.
As he went about the final customs formalities Zimra referred the truck for physical examination at its container depot.
A search of the truck was conducted leading to the discovery of 262 boxes of cigarettes.
They were stashed in 400 sacks of tea.
Chisamba was subsequently arrested and the contraband was seized.