Smuggling of alcohol, cigarettes on the rise
Lockdown regulations in South Africa have seen an increase in demand for products currently not available, with the national border protection tasking reporting a half a million Rand increase in the value of contraband seized last month compared with March 2019.
Statistics from the Joint Operations Division of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) show contraband, including cigarettes, other tobacco products and alcohol, conservatively valued at R1,07 million was confiscated by patrolling soldiers on South Africa’s land borders with Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe between 1 and 31 March. This is R472 063 more in Rand terms than the previous March.
At the same time it appears lockdown protocols and regulations, whether in South Africa or its neighbours, has not affected the efforts of dagga smugglers.
https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/smuggling-of-alcohol-cigarettes-on-the-rise/
Lear MorePolice arrests Congress leader for smuggling liquor
Police has taken major action in the liquor smuggling case in Mungeli district of Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. On Thursday, April 16, the people who were smuggling the liquor during the lockdown were arrested and arrested. Surprisingly, three policemen and Mungeli Youth Congress district president Rahul Singh have also been accused in this case. Following these allegations, the Congress leader has been suspended from the party for 6 years.
Simultaneously, police constables have also been suspended.
In fact, there were frequent complaints of liquor smuggling in Mungeli district. On Thursday, on the instructions of SP D Shravan, the team of Lormi SDOP Qadir Khan arrested and smuggled illegal smugglers. In which it was revealed that these smugglers were doing nothing but policemen and Congress leaders themselves. Police said that one of the constables has been arrested, the other two constables have escaped, while DGP Awasthi has suspended all three constables.
According to the police, the Mungeli youth Congress district president Rahul Singh along with three police constables was supplying illegal liquor. Blockade was imposed in the forest of Orapani at Khudia Chowki in Lormi area, where smugglers from Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district used to bring illegal liquor through the jungle, with police seizing 52 liters of English liquor in action.
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Trio arrested for ‘smuggling’ almost 500,000 cigarettes into SA
Three men have been arrested in northern KwaZulu-Natal after they were caught transporting 20,095 packs of cigarettes from Mozambique on Thursday.
Police spokesperson Capt Nqobile Gwala said an operation was conducted near the Hluhluwe Game Reserve and members stopped three bakkies travelling on the road.
“A search was conducted and 40 boxes, each containing 500 packets of cigarettes, were seized by police. The street value of the recovered cigarettes is estimated at R900,000.”
Gwala said the men, aged between 28 and 54, were arrested.
“A 33-year-old suspect was also charged for being an illegal immigrant. They will appear in court soon facing charges for being in possession of illicit cigarettes.”
“This arrest will send a clear message to others who are contemplating smuggling illicit cigarettes into the province. Operations are in place to combat all forms of criminality in the province,” said the KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula.
Lear MoreDuo held for smuggling liquor from Haryana in private ambulance
Two men who were using a private ambulance to allegedly smuggle illicit liquor bottles into Delhi from Haryana were arrested in South West Delhi’s Chhawla and the vehicle seized on Thursday, the police said. A total of 913 smuggled illicit liquor bottles were found from in the ambulance.
The police said that the driver of the ambulance had hired the duo to smuggle the consignment of liquor, in order to make a quick buck. The police are on the lookout for the driver, identified as Jai Singh. The arrested were identified as Harish Lohia, 34, who was driving the vehicle, and Devender,40.
The deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), Anto Alphonse, said that they were tipped off about the consignment of illicit liquor being transported in a private ambulance bearing Haryana registration number. “Our team laid a trap near the local crematorium. Around 9.30am, the ambulance, a Force jeep, was spotted and stopped. Its driver and another occupant tried to flee but were caught,” Alphonse said.
The police found a cold storage unit in the ambulance filled with liquor bottles and retrieved more bottles from other parts of the vehicle. A total of 25 cartons, containing 913 bottles of illicit liquor, were recovered, he said.
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P8.275 million worth of smuggled cigarettes seized in Zamboanga City
MANILA, Philippines — Assorted smuggled cigarettes amounting to P8.275 million were intercepted by authorities in Zamboanga City, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported Thursday.
Some 300 master cases of smuggled Bravo, Fort, Tradition, LS, Astro cigarettes were found onboard vessel MJ NR 4 in Barangay Lower Calarian in Zamboanga City during an operation conducted by the BOC-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Zamboanga Operatives, in coordination with the Naval Intelligence and Security Group-Western Mindanao (NISG-WM) and Naval Special Operating Unit (NAVSOU) on April 14.
The operation was conducted following reports that a motorized banca loaded with alleged smuggled cigarettes from Jolo, Sulu is anchored within the vicinity of Stanvac Lower Calarian, Zamboanga City.
The shipment will be subjected to issuance of Warrant of Seizure and Detention (WSD) for lack of permit from the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) and for violation of Executive Order No. 245 and Republic Act No. 10863, BOC said.
Lear MoreSmuggling cigarettes lands man in trouble
A Malawian man has been arrested in Botswana for possession of 84 boxes containing 4 200 cartons of Chele Chele cigarettes suspected to have been smuggled through Zimbabwe.
The cigarettes are estimated to be valued at P126 000. The man, who has not been identified, was arrested on Monday by Mogoditshane police.
Botswana police’s public relations officer Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube confirmed the arrest and said investigations were continuing. He said such activities impeded the ongoing war against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asst Comm Motube appealed to citizens to be on the lookout for people selling tobacco and report to the nearest police. Zimbabwe’s national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told reporters last night that he had not yet heard of the case.
https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-183407.html
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Smuggled cigarettes, betel nuts recovered
The Directorate General Intelligence and Investigation (DGI&I)- Customs, Karachi Tuesday claimed to have recovered substantial quantity of betel nuts and smuggled cigarettes worth over Rs. 39.02 million from cargo train.
Credible information was received that some unscrupulous elements were transporting huge quantity of betel nuts and foreign origin smuggled cigarettes to Karachi through railways.
Reacting on this information, an ASO team of DGI&I, Karachi carried out search of “Super Parcel Goods Train (406 Dn).” As a result, five bogies of train were laden with smuggled goods.
After thorough examination, the department has recovered over 12 metric tons of betel nuts worth over Rs. 10 million and 387 cartons of foreign origin smuggled cigarettes worth Rs. 29.02 million.
During initial course of investigation, it was revealed that goods were booked by five different cargo agencies from Lahore. Consequent upon recovery, a case has been registered and further investigation is in progress.
https://www.brecorder.com/2020/04/15/589483/smuggled-cigarettes-betel-nuts-recovered/
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Delhi Constable, 3 others held for liquor smuggling
New Delhi, April 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) A Delhi Police Constable and three other persons have been arrested on the charge of involvement in liquor smuggling, police said on Tuesday.
Accused Constable Ravinder was posted in the Begampura police station in Rohini police district.
The accused were arrested from a Ramgarh service road in Jahangirpuri area. A case was registered against them at the Mahendra Park police station.
https://www.socialnews.xyz/2020/04/14/delhi-constable-3-others-held-for-liquor-smuggling/
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Seized counterfeit goods and products destroyed
Joint committees last week burnt and destroyed nearly 33 tonnes of spoiled pig intestines, more than 64,000 litres of fake alcohol and 13 tonnes of fake disinfectants and cosmetics seized in simultaneous crackdowns.
Ou Manrin, director of the Kandal provincial Department of Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Prevention, said yesterday provincial authorities last week seized two containers of spoiled and smuggled pig intestines, weighing nearly 33 tonnes, in Kien Svay district.
“The products were spoiled and bore no legal documentation to confirm their quality. We also found about 10 kilogrammes of duck heads and chicken wings packaged in small plastic bags. Joint committees have already burnt the items on Friday,” said Mr Manrin.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50712301/seized-counterfeit-goods-and-products-destroyed/
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Police arrest two liquor smugglers during lockdown amid lockdown in Rajasthan.
Ganganagar: To prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, the government has implemented a 21-day lockdown across the country. During this time, the case of liquor smuggling has come to light for the second time in village 14 FF under Gajsinghpur police station area of Sri Ganganagar. Amidst the lockdown, there was a fierce business of illegal liquor.
During this time, the youth group team guarding the village caught two youths late at night. After this, when both were searched, 20 liters of illicit liquor was recovered from them. After this, the information of the case was given to the police. At the same time, after getting the information, the police reached the spot and arrested two youths including alcohol. Also seized two bikes. While one accused managed to escape from the spot.
Station in-charge Samar Veer Singh said that according to the instructions of Superintendent of Police Hemant Sharma, action has been taken by Gajsinghpur police in two different areas. He said that ASI Mani Ram, while taking action in village 14FF of police station area, arrested two youths including illegal liquor. 20 liters of liquor has been found from them. Also, in the village 58F, 4 liters of illicit liquor have been confiscated by forming a team at midnight and taking action under Havildar Sita Ram.
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