The police arrested three suspects in July 2013 who smuggled counterfeit cigarettes to the value of R1.2 million into South Africa and then tried to bribe a policeman.

Sabeer Aly Moosa (driver of the truck, from Johannesburg), Abid Abdul Merchant (from Burgersfort) and Willem Abraham van der Walt (from Mashishing – better known as Lydenburg) were arrested at the Ultra City. Police recovered 122 boxes, each with 50 cartons of Pacific Blue cigarettes inside.

All three were found guilty on different accounts, which included possession of counterfeit goods and bribery of a police officer.

In April this year Moosa was fined R80 000 (for possession as driver of the truck) and Merchant and Van der Walt R20 000 each for bribing a police officer.

But they are not the only people with counterfeit cigarettes in the area! Thousands of people in Middelburg smoke these cigarettes. If you ask them where they buy it, the answer is always: “I am not going to tell you. If you help to close them down, where are we going to get ‘cheap’ cigarettes.”

A contact of the newspaper was asked to buy counterfeit cigarettes.

In just one block in Cowen Ntulistreet he went to three shops and asked for “cheap” cigarettes.

And this is what he got: R11 for “Chelsea”, R13 for “Westleigh” and R13 for “Pacific Blue”. To make sure that they are not caught with counterfeit packages in their possession, several hawkers in parking areas are selling these cigarettes as “loose draws” for between R2.50 and R3.50 each.

Captain Christelle de Jager (Commander of the Delmas Management Information Centre) sent the newspaper the rules and regulations that are set by die Tobacco Industry of South Africa.

“If you buy a packet of cigarettes (20’s) for less than R14, then you must already know that it could be counterfeit, because of the taxes that have to be paid.”

Captain De Jager and her team do intensive work at schools in their area to warn them not only about the dangers of drugs, but also smoking. “Everybody is talking about drugs, but cigarettes are just legalized, social acceptable drugs!”

As the packets indicate, cigarettes are very bad for your health. If you smoke counterfeit cigarettes it is far worse.

She mentioned that some of these counterfeit cigarettes contain, except for illegal amounts of tar and benzene, also arsenic and even asbestos!

• In the The Tobacco Institute of South Africa’s report on the illicit trade of Tobacco it is stated clearly that the illicit trade of tobacco products is in contravention of the Tobacco Products Control Act and that guilty sellers could be fined with up to R1 million.

• Some of the rules and regulations, as stated in the report, can be seen elsewhere in the newspaper.

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