Members of the Hawks with the cigarettes seized in Mokopane.
The Hawks in Limpopo have smoked out a clandestine cigarette warehouse in Mokopane and seized illicit cigarettes worth more than R700 000.
According to Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation spokesperson Captain Matimba Maluleke, the Hawks received a tip-off about a storage facility in Mokopane where illicit cigarettes were allegedly being stored.
“The information was swiftly followed up and it led to the discovery of [the] warehouse [on Wednesday].”
Forty-two large boxes containing an assortment of illicit cigarettes – including Remington Gold, Royal Express and Pacific Blue – to the value of over R700 000 were seized. Some of the boxes were found inside a Toyota bakkie parked next to the facility and it was also seized during the arrest, Maluleke said.
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The Hawks were assisted by members of the Mokopane police station.
Abdi Khani Osman Mohamed, 27, was arrested and appeared in the Mokopane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. He was remanded until 17 August for a formal bail application.
“More operations to address the illicit cigarette trade are still going to be conducted,” Maluleke said.
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