A 27-year-old man on his way to Mauritius was arrested and R6.9 million worth of cash in American and South African currency, seized at OR Tambo International Airport on May 4.
During the continued implementation of an integrated plan at OR Tambo airport, the team, acting on intelligence, intercepted luggage suspected of containing undeclared cash.
After verifying that the bag did indeed contain an amount of US$ 199 300 and R4 500 400, which has a total value of R6 992 569.34, the suspect was arrested, preventing him from departing to Mauritius, Brig Vishnu Naidoo, national police spokesperson said.
“The South African Police Service, the South African Revenue Service, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations and port security continue to work tirelessly to ensure that crime, including the smuggling of illicit contraband and undeclared cargo, is not committed at our ports of entry,” naidoo said.
The suspect is likely to face a charge of contravening the Customs and Excise Act and is expected to appear in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on Monday (today).
