The police from Mountain Rise have recovered 86 boxes of illegal cigarettes worth over R1.2 million during their operation in the early hours of Monday morning 21 May 2012.
Mountain Rise Police had gathered intelligence which indicated that tons of illegal cigarettes were abandoned at two local farms.
Police proceeded to the said locations; on arrival at the first farm they found 21 boxes of Kingdom, Mega and Dullas cigarettes. They proceeded to the second location and found 60 boxes of the same.
Detectives from the station are still investigating possible links between these cigarettes and those recovered during an operation on Thursday last week where police arrested five suspects for possession of illicit cigarettes and sex tablets worth over R1.5 million during an operation in Mountain Rise and also recovered three cars that were used by the suspects to transport the goods during the time of their arrest. The police were working together with South African Revenue Services officials (SARS).
All five suspects appeared before the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate Court on charges of possession of counterfeit goods. They are all out on bail.
For further information contact:
Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge
R1.2 Million counterfeit cigarettes recovered in Mountain Rise
