Border Management Authority (BMA) officers stopped a large consignment of banned skin cream this past weekend when they intercepted a suspicious truck at the Kopfontein Border Post near Zeerust.
According to the police, the 43-year-old driver, identified as Tiritese Chimbwanda, was travelling from Botswana into South Africa when he claimed he had nothing to declare. But a routine inspection told a different story.
Officers uncovered a massive stash of 44,941 packets of Epiderm Cream, an illegal skin-lightening product under South African health regulations, concealed beneath the trailer floor.
“The officials conducted a search and allegedly found the packets hidden underneath the trailer,” said Lieutenant Colonel Tinyiko Mathebula. “The Medical Control Council has declared this product undesirable.”
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Chimbwanda was immediately arrested on 25 May and appeared in the Zeerust Magistrates’ Court on 27 May. He is facing charges under the Medicines and Related Substances Act of 1965.
The case has been postponed to 3 June for a formal bail application.
In response to the arrest, authorities have promised stricter inspections at ports of entry, particularly targeting the growing trend of smuggling unregulated pharmaceutical products into the country.
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