TWO men trying to smuggle 39 gold bars worth R18.7 million in their hand luggage, were arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday evening.
Acting on intelligence, which included collaboration between airlines, Customs officials requested the two passengers to accompany the officers to the customs common search area for a mandatory inspection,the SA Revenue Services (SARS) said in a statement.
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One of the passengers, a Mozambican national, was en route to Dubai after arriving earlier from Mozambique. The other passenger was a Pakistani national who lives in South Africa. He did not have a boarding pass but informed customs officials that he was on his way to Mozambique.
Upon inspection of their hand luggage, officials found the gold bars. Most of the bars were wrapped in t-shirts, while others were found in a paper bag in the same carry-on bag.
Upon questioning the suspects, the Mozambican passenger claimed the gold belonged to the other passenger. According to him, the Pakistani man gave him the bag that contained the gold bars. It is suspected that these passengers bypassed security, probably in collaboration with airline security.
The gold was detained for further investigation under the Customs and Excise Act and the Exchange Control Regulation. Both the suspects were arrested, and their belongings, including the 39 gold bars, handed over to the SAPS Organised Crime unit for criminal investigations.
This significant bust follows shortly after Customs officials at King Shaka International Airport bust a passenger attempting to smuggle 5.6kg gold from Dubai into South Africa.
In another bust on Saturday, also at OR Tambo, a South American woman was arrested after trying to smuggle R2 million worth of cocaine into the country. Customs officials intercepted her luggage and brought it to Customs for a mandatory inspection, where s scan showed suspicious content in one of her check-in bags.
Upon further inspection two packets of cocaine, wrapped in brown tape, were found inside each of six handbags in her luggage.
The drugs and the woman were handed over to the Police for further investigation.
