WHITE RIVER – Police in Mpumalanga have raised a concern over the prevalence of selling of illegal goods in various stores despite the government’s efforts to counter this dilemma.
This comes after a multidisciplinary operation that was conducted at a certain storage warehouse in Rocky’s Drift in White River.
Various goods including cosmetics, fireworks, teabags, pills and suspected greenstone with an estimated value of R12-million was confiscated.
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At least seventeen units within the facility were found with these goods. The owner of the facility was nowhere in sight during the operation. Regardless of the absence of the owner, the officials gained access to the premises after producing a search warrant to the security personnel at the warehouse.
VIDEO: Provincial SAPS Spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli speaks at the scene.
Provincial Police Spokesperson, Brigadier Donald Mdluli stated that these ongoing criminal activities cause a damage to the livelihoods of the citizens and pose a serious threat to their health.
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“This issue of illicit goods is very serious. I think if you can recall last year we had incidents where children ate some food items which result into the death of so many hence the government has a taken a step that we need to continue with such operations. This is not the first nor the last, trying the curb this and trying to address such a situation where these items can land, the hands of the community that will purchase these items because some of these items can cause health damage.” Brigadier further stated that these ongoing crisis has got a dire impact on the country’s economy.
“It has got a huge impact on our economy. Hence we have got our counterparts from the South African Revenue Services Custom because they need to ensure that these items are confiscated and at a later stage disposed with the hope to save our economy which is struggling a bit” Mdluli added. No one has been apprehended. The police vowed to continue fighting this scourge of selling of illegal goods in the province.
