Police arrested six men during a cigarette smuggling bust in South Africa's Limpopo province near the Zimbabwe border. Officers caught the suspects transporting illegal cigarettes worth R390,000 in two Toyota vehicles on April 24. The group included five Zimbabweans and one South African traveling through the Hoedspruit area.
Several police units worked together with local farm watch members after receiving tips about the suspicious vehicles. They stopped the convoy on the R36 road and searched both cars. Officers found numerous boxes of contraband cigarettes hidden in the vehicles and seized a 9mm pistol from the South African suspect.
Police confiscated 43 boxes of illegal cigarettes and both vehicles during the operation. The men, ages 31 to 44, will appear in Hoedspruit court next Tuesday facing charges for possessing illegal cigarettes and breaking immigration laws. Many smugglers move cigarettes into South Africa through official border crossings or secret routes along the Limpopo River. High taxes make legal cigarette imports from Zimbabwe unprofitable, causing many people to smuggle them instead.
Several police units worked together with local farm watch members after receiving tips about the suspicious vehicles. They stopped the convoy on the R36 road and searched both cars. Officers found numerous boxes of contraband cigarettes hidden in the vehicles and seized a 9mm pistol from the South African suspect.
Police confiscated 43 boxes of illegal cigarettes and both vehicles during the operation. The men, ages 31 to 44, will appear in Hoedspruit court next Tuesday facing charges for possessing illegal cigarettes and breaking immigration laws. Many smugglers move cigarettes into South Africa through official border crossings or secret routes along the Limpopo River. High taxes make legal cigarette imports from Zimbabwe unprofitable, causing many people to smuggle them instead.
