SMUGGLERS CONTINUE to move massive amounts of goods in and out of SA's porous borders ahead of a planned reduction of border posts. The situation is so bad that the local footwear, clothing and textile industry is close to collapse.
The industry believes it is losing up to R17bn a year to illegal imports, in spite of highly publicised clamp-downs held recently in Durban. About 17 000 jobs have already been lost in the sector.
Government has promised to reduce the number of border posts and revoke the permission of most airfields to accept international traffic. However, effective monitoring measures have yet to be put in place and illegal traffic continues to fly in and out using 200 uncontrolled airfields.
Police are particularly concerned about the large volume of Russian made aircraft which are currently plying southern African airspace. These aircraft, like the Antonov 12, are capable of smuggling large amounts of goods in and out of the country, using the most rudimentary airfields.
Police have responded by targeting up to 80 criminal syndicates involved in a number of crimes, in particular those with cross-border links.
They have also instructed certain airfields to shut off their landing lights at night to prevent aircraft from landing after hours when customs officials have gone home.
By Gavin du Venage
