Confiscated booze, cigarettes will be a 'court issue' once lockdown ends

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Cape Town - It will be up to the courts to decide what becomes of confiscated liquor and cigarettes when the national lockdown ends. So said national police spokesperson Vish Naidoo, adding the goods were kept as exhibits and a court would make a decision on how it would be disposed of. “Court processes begin immediately after arrests are effected and are conducted in different places and at different times,” Naidoo said. Although the sale of cigarettes and liquor are among the biggest contributors to the economy, it is illegal to buy them because of the lockdown regulations. Good party secretary-general Brett Herron said: “Liquor and tobacco confiscated in terms of the lockdown regulations should be auctioned, with revenue going to the Solidarity Fund.”

Safety and security executive director Richard Bosman said the goods were considered evidence and were handed to SAPS, with the suspects, for further investigation and prosecution.

He said the City hadn’t consolidated of the value of the confiscated items, but 70 boxes of counterfeit cigarettes were confiscated in Ravensmead on April 16, with an estimated street value of R955 500, and alcohol with a value of approximately R500 000 was also confiscated in Dunoon on April 3.

Bosman said other items included 1 750 loose cigarettes, 179 packs of tobacco, 6 235 packets of cigarettes, 9 and-a-half boxes of cigarettes, 57 litres of beer in drums, 8 boxes of spirits (12 bottles per box) and R28 000 in cash.

“The confiscated items will remain in evidence for as long as the cases are active. Once the cases are concluded, the police will dispose of the items in line with their relevant policies and procedures,” he said.

Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said that between April 6 and 12, the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan officers arrested 13 individuals in possession of/dealing narcotics and in possession of liquor or in contravention of the Disaster Management Act.

He said that during the lockdown there had been a staggering decline in certain categories of crime, particularly suspected murders, in which there was a 70.6% decrease compared with the same period last year.

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