Two foreign nationals, aged 35 and 43, were intercepted in Nelspruit with 50 master cases of illicit cigarettes valued at more than half a million rand loaded in their Toyota Hilux on Friday morning, 05 June 2026.
The arrests followed a lengthy surveillance operation after information was received regarding illegal activities at a storage facility in White River. Police obtained a search warrant for the facility and waited for the opportune moment to act after a delivery had been made.
Information regarding the delivery was received on Thursday, 04 June 2026. A multidisciplinary team comprising the Hawks' Nelspruit-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation, White River K9, and Divergent Operations closely monitored vehicle movements in the area.
The Toyota Hilux was identified as one of the vehicles transporting the illicit cigarettes. The vehicle was followed and intercepted in Nelspruit, where the two foreign nationals were arrested.
Further investigation led the team to a storage facility in White River accompanied by officials from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs division and the Nelspruit Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) where the search began.
At the storage facility, investigators recovered 87 master cases and 45 cartons of illicit cigarettes valued at more than R1.2 million making the total value of the recovered illicit cigarettes estimated at close to R2 million.
The arrested suspects are being processed and are expected to appear before the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 08 June 2026. #StopIllicitTrade
