South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs officials have intercepted 250kg of cocaine concealed in unmanifested cargo at OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA).
The drugs were discovered in four boxes offloaded from a flight that arrived from São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday, August 25.
A SARS narcotics detector dog alerted officials to the boxes during a targeted enforcement operation involving aircraft baggage offloading, passenger baggage screening and cargo inspections.
In a separate search, customs officials found another 83.1kg of cocaine concealed in two suitcases in the international arrivals hall.
The two seizures amounted to more than 333kg of cocaine with an estimated street value exceeding R167 million. SARS said the cocaine found in the cargo and passenger baggage carried similar “Air” branding.
The South African Police Service was called to secure and process the drugs and will investigate the matter.
The operation demonstrated the revenue service’s growing ability to disrupt sophisticated smuggling syndicates, SARS Commissioner Johnstone Makhubu said.
“The coordinated interception of cocaine from passenger baggage and unmanifested cargo on the same flight reflects the value of integrated enforcement,” he said.
Makhubu attributed the interception to intelligence gathering, data analytics, risk profiling, technology and cooperation between customs officials, law enforcement agencies and international partners.
