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Customs officials of the SA Revenue Service (SARS) have seized 437kg of Viagra with a street value of R30m.
The pills were seized at the OR Tambo International Airport and represent the biggest bust of "sexual enhancement pills" by Customs at the airport in the past year, SARS said in a statement on Friday.
Customs officers became suspicious about the description on the cargo manifest and who it was consigned to. After searching the cases, they discovered the massive haul of Viagra.
"There are increasing incidents of illicit products being smuggled into the country without obtaining the required permits and being sold on the black market," said SARS.
"Customs has been tasked with detaining all medicaments coming into the country on behalf of the Department of Health if they have not been declared correctly or do not have the required permits."
In January 2018 a passenger arriving from India was intercepted and his luggage scanned at the airport. During inspection, 40 000 sexual enhancement tablets, valued at approximately R4m, was found.
In October 2017, a shipment weighing 255kg from Mumbai to Johannesburg was intercepted at a cargo shed. Upon inspection, 35 680 Viagra Tablets, 2 589 Steroid pills and other products were found. The total street value of the consignment was around R5.1m.
Also in October last year, a shipment weighing 17.5kg from India to Johannesburg was intercepted at a cargo shed. Upon inspection, 150 000 Viagra Tablets, valued at approximately R1.5m.
All of the above cases were handed over to the Department of Health for further investigation.
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