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Illegal cigarette haul of R75 000

11 Apr 2011

Nine different brands of illegal cigarettes were seized in two interventions by SARS customs officials and SAPS in raids on retailers. The brands, Admiral, Chicago, Director, Dullahs, Mega, Remington Gold, Sevilles, Yes and Voyager, totalling 110 000 cigarettes, were seized from two retailers in Hercules and eight in Pretoria.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Francois van der Merwe, CEO of the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (TISA) said the industry welcomes strong action taken by authorities against people trading in illegal cigarettes. "Not only are the legal industry's volumes under severe pressure, as a result of the illegal industry but the government loses more than R2.6 billion per annum in tax revenue due to the sale of illicit cigarettes. The estimated street value of the illegal cigarettes recovered is R75 000. The smuggling of cigarettes opens the route for other criminal activities and it has been linked to the illegal weapons trade," he says.

Contact the Institute's hotline at +27 (0) 800 21 47 10 to report unethical practices.