Drugs valued at over R30m seized at OR Tambo airport

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said on Friday that customs officials at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport this week confiscated 108kg of drugs which were hidden in boxes and declared as "calcium carbonate".

Officials inspected the boxes in the cargo section at ORTIA after they arrived from Kenya on Tuesday. They discovered a white powdery substance and a brown sand-like substance‚ which they sent to a private laboratory for testing‚ Sars said.

The results came back positive for the drug ketamine (the white powdery substance) and Acetylanthranil‚ a base ingredient for Methaqualone (mandrax).

The case has been handed over to the Hawks for further investigation.

In another incident‚ a truck leaving Lesotho was stopped on Thursday (April 12) at the Ficksburg border post in the Free State and searched after the driver acted suspiciously. Customs officials then discovered 207 bags filled with cannabis weighing over 6‚000kg. The total value of the cannabis is over R9-million‚ said Sars. The driver was taken into police custody.

SARS Customs this week also released statistics for the total number of busts which took place over the past financial year.

The combined value of goods confiscated from April 1‚ 2017 to March 31‚ 2018 adds up to over R 2.3-billion.

According to the chief officer for Customs and Excise‚ Teboho Mokoena‚ the seizure of counterfeit clothing‚ footwear and other goods made up the biggest contribution‚ amounting to R1.8-billion.

This was followed by the seizure of narcotics‚ including Tik‚ cocaine and other drugs‚ amounting to over R326-million.

Some of the statistics include:

• Narcotics: 728 busts valued at R326,898,911
• Cigarettes: 383 busts valued at R29,659,899
• CITES (including endangered species such as rhino horns and abalone): 55 busts valued at R45,298,167
• Currency: 21 busts valued at R79,304,889
• Viagra / Viagra Generics: 214 busts valued at R17,717,200
• Counterfeit clothing‚ footwear and other goods: 1698 busts valued at R1,811,678,633
• Clothing and Textiles (second hand and other infringements): 51 busts valued at R76,860,835
• Alcohol: 269 busts valued at R4,647,665 Some of the busts include a special high-visibility joint operation‚ led by Sars Customs and involving various government agencies‚ in Cape Town in March 2018. It resulted in 46 busts of goods with a value of R33,229,233. The biggest bust of the operation was the discovery of uncut crystal methamphetamine (tik) with an estimate value of R30-million stashed in fridges on a truck which arrived in Cape Town from Johannesburg. In the same truck‚ a large amount of suspected counterfeit clothing was also discovered. The truck driver was arrested.

Other highlights include the seizure of:

• Rhino horn with an estimated value of R5,752,000 en route from South Africa to Hong Kong‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Cocaine with an estimated value of R56,676,900 en route from Brazil to Australia via South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Cocaine with an estimated value of R10,069,500 en route from Brazil to Namibia via South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Cocaine with an estimated value of R7,480,200 en route from Brazil to Congo via South Africa seized at OR Tambo International Airport
• Crystal Meth with an estimated value of R7,200,000 from Nigeria to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Rhino horn with an estimated value of R4,600,000 en route from Zambia to Hong Kong via South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Currency (US dollars) valued R6,717,848 en route from South Africa to Dubai‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Ecstasy with an estimated value of R33,600,000 en route from Cameroon via Kenya to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport
• Currency (US dollars) valued R10,328,010 en route from South Africa to Canada‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Currency (US dollars) valued R10,069,249 en route from Angola to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Sexual Enhancement Tablets valued R5,260,000 en route from India via Seychelles to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Currency (Rands and US dollars) valued R10,323,591.00 en route from South Africa to Dubai‚ at Cape Town International Airport.
• Currency (Rands and US dollars) valued R6,198,828.50 en route from South Africa to Dubai‚ at King Shaka International Airport.
• Crystal Meth with an estimated value of R6,180,000 en route within South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Abalone with an estimated value of R10,000,000 en route from South Africa to China‚ at Port Elizabeth Harbour.
• Kamagra (Generic Viagra) valued at R4,000,000 en route from India to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Ephedrine with an estimated value of R17,202,000 en route from Kenya to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Currency (US dollars and pound sterling) valued R15,000,000 en route from South Africa to Dubai‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Viagra valued R9,000,000 en route from Dubai to South Africa‚ and OR Tambo International Airport.
• Crystal Meth with an estimated value of R8,358,000 en route from Rwanda to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.
• Ephedrine with an estimated value of R17,202,000 en route from Kenya to South Africa‚ at OR Tambo International Airport.