Will large warning signs stop you from drinking?. Image by Flickr
Illegal alcohol bust: R15m worth of booze found in Mpumalanga
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) and police have raided a warehouse in Mpumalanga with duty-free alcohol worth R15-million.
Will large warning signs stop you from drinking?. Image by Flickr
The alcohol goods were destined for export to the foreign market, but instead, were illegally processed for the purpose of recycling for local trading, SARS confirmed on Wednesday 8 September 2021 after a year-long investigation.
“The South African Revenue Service and the South African Police Service (SAPS), with the support of the liquor industry, have uncovered a warehouse in Mpumalanga where duty-free liquor to the value of R15-million is being recycled back on to the market,” SARS said in a statement.
WAREHOUSE FILLED WITH 12 700 CASES
SARS added that the alcohol amounts to 12 700 cases.
“SARS and SAPS officials also found equipment to alter the original products. The bottles and the boxes in which they are transported have labels indicating that the product is duty-free and therefore destined for the foreign market,” SARS said.
“However, the smugglers of these products removed these labels from the bottles and replaced them, in some cases replacing the caps of the bottles and removing the lot codes from the boxes.”
HARMING AN ALREADY DESPERATE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY
With the local liquor industry in South Africa continuing to suffer under the COVID-19 pandemic, the smuggling of duty-free alcohol is perhaps the last issue the market needs.
“Such criminal activity will not be tolerated but confronted, and all those involved in this smuggling network will be brought to book. SARS has the mandate to combat illicit trade and such activity is clearly illicit and unfair competition for the local industry,” SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said.
