Police made another breakthrough when they nabbed a 47-year-old Zimbabwean truck driver along the NI Highway next to Cloud’s End Hotel near Makhado for allegedly smuggling a consignment of 50 000 cartons of illegal cigarettes with a street value of more than R4 million through the Beitbridge Border Post.

SAPS spokesman in Makhado Inspector Nndwamato Vele said the suspect was arrested on Sunday along N1 Highway following a tip-off.

"The suspect was driving a truck, which was towing a container and on being intercepted by police along N1 highway they recovered 50 000 cartons of Zimbabwean illegal cigarettes, valued at R4 250 000, and he was subsequently arrested. The contraband was concealed inside the container," Vele said.

He said the truck was coming from the direction of Musina border town and heading towards Gauteng.

"We suspect the truck driver left Harare (in Zimbabwe) on Saturday on his way to South Africa where we eventually arrested him the following day (Sunday)," said the police spokesman.

The driver is suspected to be part of a well-orchestrated syndicate involved in smuggling illegal cigarettes into the country through Beitbridge Border Post. The suspect, Joniwa Mapiri, appeared at the Makhado magistrate’s court on Monday, facing smuggling charges. The case was postponed to 2 April, without bail being considered for the suspect.

Meanwhile, Mirror has established that the smuggling syndicates involve flamboyant Harare businessmen in Zimbabwe and high-ranking government officials in that country, who are also allegedly linked to the dirty dealings. They allegedly use their "political muscles" to ensure that their trucks carrying cigarettes swiftly pass through the Zimbabwean side of the border without going through the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority scanner machines for routine examination as part of the customs formality.

Of late, there has been an increase in number of Zimbabwean cigarettes finding their way into the country illegally, following corrupt dealings involving some SARS officials who apparently facilitate the smuggling of the cigarettes in return for kickbacks.

Recently, two Zimbabwean truck drivers were arrested at Beitbridge border post for allegedly conniving with a SARS official to smuggle 785 cartons of illegal cigarettes into South Africa.

The truck was intercepted by the SARS anti-smuggling team along N1 Highway near Musina. The SARS official has since been fired and six others were also dismissed last year for similar offences.

According to SARS, an average of about 2000 cartons of cigarettes are being impounded at the border post every two months with the Government losing more than R30 million through tax evasion due to smuggling. In February, 1362 boxes of illegal Zimbabwean cigarettes, worth R5.7 million, were destroyed by SARS at the Beitbridge border post.

The SARS branch manager at Beitbridge border post, Ms Gugulethu Africa, recently said they intended to acquire scanner machines to detect concealed contents in sealed containers, in a move apparently aimed at intensifying the fight against the smuggling of counterfeit goods into the country.