Two guys from Zimbabwe will spend five years in jail after cops caught them with illegal tobacco. Samuel Nkomo, age 38, and Jesphat Aaron Mawire, age 46, faced a judge at the South Africa Commercial Crimes Court last Thursday. Police found them with R8 million worth of stuff they shouldn't have had. The pair broke the rules about what you can bring into South Africa.
Police stopped their white truck last September on Dendron Road near Polokwane. The officers searched the vehicle as part of a regular road check. Inside, they found 908 boxes of hookah tobacco wrapped in plastic. According to the marks on the packages, this tobacco came all the way from Turkey.
When police asked for papers showing they could bring this tobacco into the country, the men had nothing real to show. They tried to hand over fake forms that didn't match up with official tax records. Both men later said they did it when they went to court. The judge made them give up their truck along with all that tobacco.
The court also said these guys can never have guns in South Africa. The person who pushed for tough punishment was a lawyer named Phumudzo Mudau. She told the judge these crimes happen a lot around Polokwane. The head lawyer for that area, Ivy Thenga, thinks this tough sentence warns others not to try the same thing. She thanked everyone who helped catch these smugglers and build the case against them.
Police stopped their white truck last September on Dendron Road near Polokwane. The officers searched the vehicle as part of a regular road check. Inside, they found 908 boxes of hookah tobacco wrapped in plastic. According to the marks on the packages, this tobacco came all the way from Turkey.
When police asked for papers showing they could bring this tobacco into the country, the men had nothing real to show. They tried to hand over fake forms that didn't match up with official tax records. Both men later said they did it when they went to court. The judge made them give up their truck along with all that tobacco.
The court also said these guys can never have guns in South Africa. The person who pushed for tough punishment was a lawyer named Phumudzo Mudau. She told the judge these crimes happen a lot around Polokwane. The head lawyer for that area, Ivy Thenga, thinks this tough sentence warns others not to try the same thing. She thanked everyone who helped catch these smugglers and build the case against them.
