Hawks clamp down on illicit cigarettes

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Pretoria - The Hawks in Limpopo have made two swoops in the illegal cigarettes trade in the province.

Four suspects were arrested at the weekend while loading 1059 master cases of illegal cigarettes from a combi into a truck along the R36 road to Lydenburg.

The cigarettes, according to Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, are worth over R1 million.

One of the suspects offered the police a R6000 bribe and will face a further charge of attempting to bribe a police official.

The suspects are Asraf Shaik, 26, Nadim Shaik, 24, both Indian nationals, Jame Siyayimu, 21, a Malawian resident and 30-year-old Johannesburg resident Thamsanqa Dladla.

“The four suspects made a brief appearance in the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court on Monday and their case was postponed to 17 September 2015 for formal bail application,” said Mulaudzi.

In a separate incident, following a tip-off from community members, the Hawks arrested two suspects whose combi was stopped in Mankweng, Limpopo, over the weekend.

Upon searching the vehicle, the police found 79 master cases of illicit cigarettes with an estimated street value of R800 000.

The suspects, a 23-year-old Mbuso Polite Nkosi and his Zimbabwean counterpart Alban Mumanyi have already appeared before the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court and were remanded in custody.   

They will be back in the dock on 21 September 2015 when they will make a formal bid for bail. - SAnews.gov.za