Group in court for producing bootleg booze worth R10m in PMB
Twelve suspects, accused of producing alcohol illegally, are due to line up in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Hawks officers pounced on a warehouse in the Mkondeni area on Friday and raided two manufacturing labs.
Provincial spokesperson Sibu Ncane says their investigation began earlier in the week when customs officials tipped them off about a consignment arriving from China.
It apparently contained counterfeit Smirnoff bottle caps.
Ncane says that's when they filed a court application for a controlled delivery operation, which allowed them to trace the movement of a suspicious parcel.
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"On Friday, 5 April 2024, the police received information that the box was delivered to Newlands East in Durban.
"The police spotted the vehicle that was mentioned and followed to a warehouse in Mkondeni area in Pietermaritzburg with the assistance of the surveillance unit. The premises were then searched, and two illicit manufacturing labs of illicit Smirnoff were discovered.
"Approximately R10 million stock and equipment were seized by police."
The suspects, aged 22 and 58 years, face illicit alcohol manufacturing charges, as well as contravening the Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997.
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