The South African Revenue Service (SARS) said on Monday that 20 million contraband cigarettes had begun to be destroyed in Limpopo province, in the north-east of South Africa.
In a statement, the SARS indicated that the destruction of illegal and contraband cigarettes was expected to last several days at the Beitbridge border post on the border with Zimbabwe.
It pointed out that “the illicit trade deprives the government of vital revenue and destroys industries, exacerbating unemployment, poverty and inequality”.
The illegal goods, with a total value of more than 2.3 million dollars, were intercepted between February and May this year during several anti-trafficking operations by the South African authorities.
Between February and May this year, illegal goods with a total value in excess of 2.3 million dollars were intercepted in the course of several anti-trafficking operations by the South African authorities.
The previous month, the Department of Priority Crime (Hawks) arrested a driver illegally transporting more than 500 cartons of cigarettes. Then, in the same month, the authorities intercepted more than a million dollars worth of cigarettes smuggled through Beitbridge.