Sars seize R60m fake gear, shoes

In a major blow to syndicates dealing in counterfeit clothing in South Africa, costing the country hundreds of millions of rand, a trove of suspected fake branded clothes and shoes was uncovered in a sting operation in Brits by the South African Revenue Service (Sars).

The discovery of millions of rand worth of illicit cigarettes was made after a tip-off to members of the Sars customs border control’s K9 unit in Kempton Park.

After monitoring a warehouse in the North West town’s industrial area, customs officials raided the warehouse and discovered 10 000 cigarettes stashed inside boxes, along with clothing and shoes.

Officers raided a second warehouse and recovered clothing worth tens of millions rand.

Sars customs border control senior manager Kumaren Moodley confirmed the recovery, saying that between R50 million and R60m worth of goods had been seized.

“Our customs detector dog unit received information about illicit cigarettes being stored at a warehouse in Brits and followed up on the information, seizing clothes and shoes at two separate premises.

“At this stage all of the goods appear to be counterfeit. We are following up on information on the owners of the goods and the warehouses to determine what customs contraventions may have occurred as all the goods have been imported.

“It is suspected that the goods have been imported from Asia and were destined for sale in South Africa,” he said. Moodley said the brands recovered were world renowned. “We believe (they) are fake because of the types of packaging used, the premises they were stored in, the lack of documentation and the fact that the owners are unknown.

“This is one of the most significant seizures we have made. The investigation to determine their authenticity will take a week.

“The items will be detained pending finalisation of the customs inquiries and the counterfeit goods processes which will be conducted with the attorneys of the brand holders and the police,” Moodley said. He said the counterfeiting of clothing was a serious problem in SA, especially around areas of Joburg.

Moodley said there was evidence that SA, as well as being a destination for counterfeit goods, was also fast becoming a major transit route for fake clothing to other African countries. “To stop counterfeit we are stepping up operations, working more closely with the public on information gathering, while on a law enforcement level we are increasing our relationships with the police, the trade and industry department and with the attorneys of brand holders,” he said. - Pretoria News