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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Reporter
SOUTH African police in Limpopo Province have arrested two Zimbabweans for allegedly smuggling cigarettes with a street value of R800 000 into that country through the Beitbridge Border Post.Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Ronel Otto said the suspects were arrested at Beitbridge Border Post on Friday while transporting the contraband to Johannesburg. The cigarettes were hidden in a secret compartment in a cross-border bus. The bus was coming from Harare.
“We arrested two Zimbabweans following the interception of a bus they were travelling in which was carrying boxes of cigarettes. The cigarettes were smuggled into the country from Zimbabwe through Beitbridge Border Post.
“The suspects could be linked to a well-organised syndicate involving others and we are still investigating,” she said.
Col Otto said the bus and the cigarettes were impounded and taken to the South African Revenue Service warehouse.
She said the suspects would appear in court soon on smuggling charges. Of late, there has been an increase in the number of cigarette smuggling cases involving Zimbabweans being arrested in the neighbouring country.
Some of the cigarettes are smuggled out of the country through undesignated entry points along the crocodile infested Limpopo River while others find their way into South Africa through Beitbridge Border Post despite the presence of Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) scanners.
The machines are able to detect concealed goods hidden in sealed containers.
Online Reporter