SA man found with E830 070 stashed in car, arrested
MBABANE - A tip-off from an anonymous caller led to the police recovering a sum of E830 070 hidden in a South African registered motor vehicle at Ngwenya Border Gate last Monday.
The money, which was found concealed in false compartments was reportedly being smuggled to the neighbouring country. A false compartment is any box, container, space or enclosure intended or designed to conceal any controlled item within a motor vehicle. According to the investigator of the matter, the money was in denominations of R200, R100, R50 and R10.
These are equivalent to the local currency of Emalangeni.
Police say they believe the money was ill-gotten and was to be used for illegal activities. The driver of the motor vehicle, who is a South African national, Thando Daniel Zulu, is said to have failed to give the police an explanation when asked about the source of the money and this led to him being arrested.
Laundering
He now stands accused of having contravened Section 41 of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act of 2011.
The director of public prosecutions (DPP) has since obtained an order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act (POCA) 2018 to preserve the money, pending application for its forfeiture. The court also issued an order allowing the prosecution to seize the motor vehicle, a white Toyota Hilux. In the application, respondents are Zulu, Baphelele Vilakati, who is a liSwati and a South African company trading as Thompson Industrial Painting & Maintenance. The motor vehicle is reportedly registered under the company, hence it has been cited as one of the respondents in the matter.
In his statement annexed to the application, Mbabane Desk Officer Inspector Akhona Dludlu, narrated to the court how he received a tip-off from an anonymous caller informing him about the suspicious motor vehicle. Dludlu submitted that on November 21, 2022, at about 6:30pm, while on duty at the Mbabane Police Station, he received a call from an anonymous caller informing him about a Toyota van, which was about to exit the Ngwenya Border Gate to South Africa.
“The informer emphasised that the motor vehicle had a false compartment beneath the bakkie and that the police officers who were conducting the search must not release it to the driver. Acting upon that information, together with three officers, we proceeded to Ngwenya Border Gate,” submitted the desk officer. Inspector Dludlu said upon arrival at the border gate, they met Sergeant Zandile Mkhonta, who was in the company of a man who was introduced as Daniel Thabo Zulu, a South Africa national and a driver of the Toyota Hilux registered ND 736424. He submitted that they introduced themselves as police officers and further cautioned the driver (Zulu) as per the judges’rules after having explained their mission. “The driver of the motor vehicle was not cooperative during the investigations, as he was reluctant to speak to us. We noticed that the car and the bakkie were not manufactured from the same factory. It was obvious that it was manmade and we highly suspected that it had a false compartments,” submitted Dludlu.
He narrated to the court that it took them four hours to figure out that the car had false as compartments at the back. During the search of the false compart