By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team working together with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) conducted a raid in a premises identified as a storage facility for imported ethanol in Kempton Park, East of Johannesburg.
The joint team discovered the consignment being off-loaded at an unlicensed and unregistered facility into 1000 litre flow bins.
The consignment was imported by sea and declared to be in-transit and should have been removed directly through one of the Ports of Exit out of South Africa.
It was identified as one of four, is 26 000 litres of ethanol with an alcohol content of approximately 96%. It is the base product used to produce liquor products and generally attracts a duty-rate of R302.84/litre on the legitimate market.
The duties and taxes due to SARS would have been around R9.1 million just for one consignment.
SARS Commissioner Dr Johnstone Makhubu expressed his satisfaction with the operation’s success. He noted that this enforcement action is part of the government’s broader efforts to combat illicit economic activities and enhance compliance in critical sectors. “This initiative also aligns with SARS’s strategic goal of making non-compliance hard and costly through intelligence-led interventions aimed at customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, smuggling, and illegal trade”.
The illicit alcohol trade is not a victimless crime; it deprives our country of essential revenue needed for public services, undermines compliant businesses, and enriches criminal networks operating outside the law.
Makhubu added that the operation demonstrates the value of coordinated enforcement between SARS, SAPS, and other government partners. “We will continue to strengthen our intelligence, customs, and investigative capabilities to detect diversion schemes, disrupt illicit trade, and ensure that those who seek to evade their tax and customs obligations are held accountable”.
SARS is committed to working with law-enforcement and regulatory partners to detect, disrupt, and dismantle illicit trade networks.
“Those involved in customs fraud, excise-duty evasion, and other forms of illicit economic activity are put on notice”, the Commissioner said. “We will not surrender the destiny of this country to criminals or tolerate brazen alcohol smuggling and tax evasion.”