Cocaine worth R56-million seized on cargo ship

Drugs with an estimated street value of R56-million were seized near the Durban harbour on Wednesday.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) led a collaborative intelligence-driven operation that intercepted a cargo ship near the Fairway Buoy at outer anchorage approximately 4 nautical miles offshore.

The ship was escorted to its berth in the harbour, where customs enforcement officers boarded the vessel and located several containers identified as posing a potential risk for smuggling.

“The inspection resulted in the discovery of 25 large bricks of suspected cocaine hidden in the refrigeration units of several containers.

“A field drug test was conducted and positively identified the goods as cocaine of a very high quality suitable for further dilution and expansion into larger volumes for illicit distribution.

“Customs seized the goods and handed it over to the SAPS for further safekeeping, investigation and prosecution,” said Sars in a statement.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said: “This success points to the success of collaboration with our counterparts from Brazil. It is such collaboration that communicates concrete cooperation within BRICS countries that deal a heavy blow against organised crime syndicates.

“This achievement also signals that the efforts by all law enforcement agencies in our county is taking on the challenge of protecting our borders”.

Don’t have the ZO app? Download it to your Android or Apple device here:

HAVE YOUR SAY