From: IOL News (South Africa)
Enough cigarettes so that every child in the country under 18 could light up.
That’s what’s destined for the landfill this week as police destroy 18.5 million counterfeit cigarettes as part of an operation to combat the sale of illegal, duty-free, imitation brand tobacco in KwaZulu-Natal.
Efforts by SA customs officials, Sars enforcement investigations and the SAPS have led to several arrests across the province and the seizing of cigarettes with an estimated street value of R9 million.
The cigarettes were confiscated over a period of six months.
A Sars team leader confirmed to the Daily News on Wednesday night that the sales of these cigarettes would have resulted in a loss to the country’s fiscus/revenue of about R1.1 million.
The destruction of the cigarettes began on Tuesday at the Pietermaritzburg New England Road landfill and will go on until Friday.
“We are going to beef up operations in terms of enforcement and compliance in relation to the tobacco industry,” the team leader, who asked not to be named, said. – Daily News
