Durban — Two undocumented foreign nationals, among other suspects, are expected to appear before the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after they were arrested for allegedly manufacturing illicit and counterfeit hair products at a house in Pinetown.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said police in Pinetown discovered a house used as a factory to manufacture illicit and counterfeit hair products in Somerset Place in Farningham Ridge, Pinetown on Tuesday afternoon.
Netshiunda explained that police were following up on information about a flowbin reportedly stolen in Westmead, Pinetown industrial area, on Sunday, November 24.
“Intelligence led the police to a house in Somerset Place in Pinetown where the stolen flowbin was recovered,” Netshiunda said.
He said during the search, police found the house was used to manufacture different hair products.
Netshiunda said the initial investigation revealed that the barcodes on the products are for a different product from a North American country.
“Two undocumented foreign nationals were found hiding in the ceiling and were arrested. Two women, one of them a foreign national, were also arrested,” Netshiunda said.
He said the house owner is a foreign national, a pastor with a church in Umbilo. His vehicle, branded with photographs of him and his wife and various brands of hair products, was parked in the yard.
“Police also found invoices indicating that the hair products have been sold to renowned wholesalers, retail stores and hair salons, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape province. A search for the owner of the house is under way,” Netshiunda said.
He said the suspects, aged between 34 and 37, will appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, November 27.
This comes a week after KZN police discovered two warehouses used to store expired food during an operation in the Bluff area, south of Durban on Wednesday afternoon, November 20.
At the time, Netshiunda said food items such as canned fish, fizzy drinks, soya beans, baby food and spices, mostly used on chips, were found stored with hazardous chemicals such as pesticides. Counterfeit prescription medication, body lotion and expired alcoholic beverages were also found in the two warehouses.
He said police also discovered another two warehouses which were storing counterfeit big-brand clothing items worth millions of rand.
Netshiunda said investigations were under way to find the people responsible for selling expired food, mostly sold at township and village spaza shops and the importers of fake clothing items.
He added that police also intensified operations to detect vessels that come into the country carrying prohibited items and products that have not been authorised to be in the country.
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