Johannesburg - “Hair-raising” has taken on new meaning after the SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs officers seized a substance used to manufacture the drug mandrax after inspecting a truck entering South Africa from Mozambique.
Sars said the estimated value of the substance was about R5 million.
According to a Sars statement, customs inspectors from the Lebombo Customs Detector Dog Unit were conducting random searches of cargo at the import channel at Lebombo Border Post when they stopped a yellow truck with two trailers en route to South Africa.
“The officers engaged the driver, a Zimbabwean citizen, to perform a manual inspection to verify the declared goods, which were declared as boxes of hair extensions. A customs officer requested the declaration documents from the driver, which were handed over to the officer,” said a Sars statement.
Sars also said that the seal numbers were verified and found to be correct, and the inspector continued with his search of the rest of the vehicle.
“A toolbox was opened, and nine bags weighing 22kg of an unknown powder were found. The powder was tested on site by using the generic and cocaine test kits and found to be positive as a narcotic substance.
“The goods and the vehicle were handed over to the SAPS for further investigation. The SAPS Forensic Laboratory later confirmed that the substance was N-acetylanthranilic acid, which is the precursor in the synthesis of methaqualone (mandrax) manufacturing,” added the statement.
Sars also said that once this powder is used to manufacture mandrax tablets, the drug will have a much higher value.
“The truck driver fled the scene during the inspection, and the substance and the vehicle were handed over to the SAPS for further investigation. The vehicle was detained in the Sars State Warehouse,” the revenue service added.
The Star