The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the South African Police Service (SAPS), with the support of the liquor industry, have uncovered a warehouse in Mpumalanga where duty-free liquor to the value of R15-million was being recycled back onto the market.
More than 12 700 cases of duty-free liquor were found at the scene and seized following a year-long investigation.
Sars and SAPS officials also found equipment to alter the original products. The bottles and the boxes in which they are transported have labels indicating that the product is duty-free and therefore destined for the export market.
The smugglers of these products remove these labels from the bottles and replace them, while also removing the lot codes from the boxes in which they are packed.
The smugglers of the illicit liquor were harming the local industry at a time when Covid-19 restrictions were obviously a significant impediment to the industry, Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter says.
“Such criminal action will not be tolerated but confronted, and all those involved in this smuggling network will be brought to book. Sars has the mandate to combat illicit trade and such activity is clearly illicit and unfair competition for the local industry.
“We are committed to making it difficult and costly for any taxpayer or trader who does not comply with the tax or customs laws of the country. Therefore, I want to acknowledge and thank the investigators for their determination and persistence in this matter,” he adds.