SAPS officials have been mostly cracking down on those who flout lockdown regulations.
Roger Sedres, Gallo Images
- Eastern Cape police confiscated liquid tobacco valued at R360 000 after a tip-off from a courier company.
- The products were couriered from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape in alleged contravention of lockdown regulations relating to tobacco products.
- The courier company alerted the police after a similar package arrived earlier in the week.
Police confiscated liquid tobacco worth an estimated R360 000 after it was couriered from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape in alleged contravention of lockdown regulations relating to tobacco products.
“It is alleged that on Thursday at about 14:00, [a courier] company received a package from Cape Town. It is further alleged that a similar package was received for the same person earlier in the week and the suspicious behaviour of the recipient caught the attention of the company,” police spokesperson colonel Priscilla Naidu said.
When the second package arrived, the courier company notified the police and the package was opened. Inside, they found 30 boxes each containing 120 packets of various flavours of hookah pipe liquid tobacco.
READ HERE | Covid-19: Alcohol ban will increase ICU capacity but is not a long-term solution, experts say
Later, at about 17:30, police were called back to the courier company because another package had arrived.
“Another 30 boxes of the same liquid tobacco were confiscated. The total value of both confiscations is R360 000. An enquiry docket was opened for further investigation,” said Naidu.
Nelson Mandela Bay district police commissioner, Major General Thembisile Patekile, thanked the courier company for alerting the police.
“Drug dealers will use any mode to ensure the safety of their illegal products. Transporting their drugs through courier companies is one of their modus operandi. Courier companies must work closely with police to clamp down on the movement of illegal and illicit merchandise,” said Patekile.
