In a multi-million-rand blow to the illicit alcohol trade, law enforcement officers caught smugglers red-handed offloading 26 000 litres of irregularly declared high-proof ethanol at an unregistered Kempton Park warehouse on Wednesday.
The crackdown was carried out by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) DPCI Serious Commercial Crime Investigations.
“SARS, along with SAPS, raided premises identified as a storage facility for imported ethanol [96% alcohol]. The raid occurred as a consignment of the imported product was being delivered into the warehouse after having been declared to be destined for a country further north into Africa.
“The consignment was imported by sea and declared to be in transit and should have been removed directly through one of the ports of exit out of South Africa. The consignment, identified as one of four, is 26 000 litres of ethanol with an alcohol content of approximately 96%,” SARS said.
Ethanol is a base product used to produce liquor products and, according to SARS, generally attracts a duty-rate of R302.84 per litre on the legitimate market.
One consignment would have meant dues and taxes due to SARS of some R9.1 million.
“The joint team discovered the consignment being off-loaded at an unlicensed and unregistered facility into 1 000-litre flow-bins. The facility also had several other flow-bins on site and storage tanks, the contents of which must be tested, but which are suspected to contain a further 28 000 litres of ethanol.
“This successful enforcement action is part of the broad SARS strategy to deal with the illicit economy that is having a devastating effect on the industry.
“The coordinated actions demonstrate SARS’s commitment to its strategic objective of making non-compliance hard and costly. SARS will continue to target the criminal syndicates involved in the illicit alcohol and liquor sectors. These syndicates exploit tax differentials by illegally diverting products and manufacturing illicit liquor,” the revenue service explained.
SARS Commissioner Dr Johnstone Makhubu said the raid aligns with the goal of cracking down on non-compliance through “intelligence-led interventions aimed at customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, smuggling, and illegal trade”.
“We will continue to strengthen our intelligence, customs, and investigative capabilities to detect diversion schemes, disrupt illicit trade, and ensure that those who seek to evade their tax and customs obligations are held accountable.
“Those involved in customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, and other forms of illicit economic activity are put on notice.
“We will not surrender the destiny of this country to criminals or tolerate brazen alcohol smuggling and tax evasion. I commend the collective enforcement and teamwork by SARS, SAPS, and our other partners for their dedication and swift action,” Makhubu said. – SAnews.gov.za
