NOORDWESTER – VENTERSDORP - Mthobisi Mkhatswa (36) is expected to make a second court appearance for bail application on Thursday, 4 September, following his first court appearance in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court.
The accused, who is facing a charge of possession of illicit cigarettes, was arrested on Wednesday, 27 August, at a weighbridge in Ventersdorp after he was found transporting 350 boxes of Chief and Sahawi illicit cigarettes, all with an estimated value of R4,5 million.
Reports suggests that after becoming aware that the truck was overloaded, traffic officials at the weighbridge checked the load and found that it was cigarettes. The police were then called to the scene, and the truck driver was arrested for possession of illicit cigarettes, and both the truck and the illicit cigarettes were confiscated
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Patrick Asaneng said that this arrest is significant in the police investigations and efforts to dismantle trans-national organised criminal groups involved in the illicit economy that cost the fiscus billions of rands in lost revenue and taxes by flooding the market with fake, cheap and dangerous goods such as illicit cigarettes.
