A total amount of US$180 000 (about R3 276 000) was forfeited to the state after a 68-year-old man failed to declare the money at the King Shaka International Airport.
On Friday, June 28, the money was deposited into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account after a final forfeiture order was granted in March this year.
In October last year, Hawks members from the Asset Forfeiture Investigation working together with the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) Assert Forfeiture Unit secured a preservation order for the money following the arrest of a Pakistani national, Idris Abdul Aziz, 68, at King Shaka International Airport on October 3, 2023, said KwaZulu-Natal Hawks spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo.
“Mr Aziz concealed 180 000 US dollars in his body whilst boarding a flight to Dubai. It is alleged that he failed to declare this amount to the South African Revenue Services, Customs at King Shaka International Airport as a result the cash was seized,” said Lieutenant Colonel Mhlongo.
Hawks members from the Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation were called to the scene and Mr Aziz was charged with contravention of the Currency and Exchanges Act.
He appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s on October 5, 2023 and was granted R15 000 bail. Mr Aziz will re-appear in the same court on Wednesday July 31, for a pre-trial conference.
