Maputo, 14 Mar (AIM) – A 40 year old Mozambican national, named Bento Abilio Cuna, was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment after he was arrested at the South African border for smuggling.
According to the South African authorities, Cuna was arrested on 4 November last year by law enforcement agents from the Lebombo border police, Lebombo Customs and Excise, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks.
According to a statement from the Hawks in Nelspruit, in the South African province of Mpumalanga, the court sentenced Cuna to two years in prison or a fine of 200,000 rand (10,700 dollars at the current exchange rate).
He entered South Africa from Mozambique, at the Ressano Garcia border post, driving a Volvo truck with two trailers containing counterfeit goods worth almost six million Rand.
“The accused was arrested, the counterfeit goods, the truck and the trailers, were confiscated and seized at the customs warehouse. The Mozambican company Transporte Mussa Mussa (TMM), which owns the heavy goods vehicle and the two trailers, was ordered to pay a fine and customs storage fees to the South African Revenue Authority (SARS) totaling 135,000 rand”, the note reads.
The statement also points out that a Mozambican driver was arrested, two weeks ago, on the same border between South Africa and Mozambique for smuggling counterfeit footwear worth 1.8 million rand.
(AIM)
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