Police, Sars officers find container full of cigarettes worth R3m
Discovery linked to alleged kingpin Hendrik Delport
March 08, 2007 Edition 1
Karyn Maughan
Authorities have swooped on an abandoned and derelict plot on the West Rand where they discovered a container crammed with illegal cigarettes valued at R3-million.
Yesterday's find, which came after a tip-off by police reservists, has been linked to alleged criminal kingpin Hendrik Delport, who is already facing 7 000 charges relating to fraud and smuggling - and facing the loss of R370-million worth of assets.
It was the cigarettes' brand, "Exclusive", that led police and SA Revenue Service (Sars) officers to link them to Delport. Exclusive Tobacco is one of Delport's 36 companies.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay yesterday confirmed that, should the cigarettes be positively linked to Delport, the Kempton Park businessman could face further charges when he returns to court on April 4.
Accused of running an international cigarette smuggling syndicate with his Rand Airport-based business, Phoebus Apollo Aviation - self-proclaimed "Lord of all things that fly" - Delport was at the receiving end of the Asset Forfeiture Unit's biggest raids last week.
A staggering 125 vehicles - including Delport's private helicopter, three Land Rovers, a Jeep, a boat, a quadbike and a pair of jet-skis - were seized from 36 different companies linked to Delport's alleged crime ring. The seizure ran parallel to a criminal trial, now in its second year, where Delport - who is currently out on R500 000 bail - and his co-accused face more than 7 000 charges relating to smuggling and fraud.
Thus far, 26 witnesses have testified in the complex case.
A woman working at Nedbank and a Malawian customs official have already been convicted for assisting Delport and his alleged syndicate. If Delport and his co-accused - who include his brother André and right-hand man Christopher Pickard - are found guilty, all assets seized from them would be forfeited to the state.