South Africa’s Revenue Service has arrested two persons after $568,489 (R6.7m ) of undeclared currency was seized in baggage checked-in for a flight from Johannesburg to Dubai.
“Customs Officials at OR Tambo International Airport intercepted two passengers travelling to Dubai as they were about to board their flight [on Thursday],” the SA Revenue Service’s acting spokesperson Sicelo Mkosi said on Sunday.
An inspection of their checked-in luggage found numerous brown envelopes stuffed with a total of US $568 480 in various denominations, placed in between clothing items.
The passengers were taken to the police station and a criminal case has been opened.
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Mkosi said further details about the passengers could not be revealed at this stage, as the case was “very sensitive.”
The interception was part of ongoing, “wider investigations” into a syndicate, he said.
Dubai is renowned for apparently being a tax haven.
The city has most recently been linked to the controversial Gupta family, and a News24 investigation in 2017 uncovered a convoluted network of shell companies that the family used to conduct business there.
Source: News24
