KZN trio behind bars for possession of illicit cigarettes
Three men who were caught transporting illegal cigarettes during the hard lockdown have been sentenced to five years behind bars in Durban.
The trio appeared this week, in the Durban Regional Court, where one of them was handed an additional sentence for being in the country illegally.
The three were arrested in April last year.
They were travelling in convoy through the Phinda Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
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National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Kara says a game warden became suspicious when they refused to have their vehicles searched.
"The warder alerted his colleagues who called the police. When the first vehicle in the convoy arrived at the exit gate, the vehicle was searched and a consignment of cigarettes was found.
"The two other vehicles arrived empty. Upon questioning, the drivers then took the police back into the game reserve to the place where they had hidden the cigarettes they were transporting.
"They were immediately arrested. The NPA welcomes this successful conviction."
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