[WATCH] Over 500 counterfeit pairs of shoes destroyed by Customs

Customs Department destroys counterfeit shoes (Footage: Customs Department)

The Customs Department destroyed over 500 pairs of counterfeit shoes yesterday, following a court ruling.

The department has had a “record breaking” year in terms of interceptions,  as they managed to “target and seize several shipments of counterfeit goods”, transiting through the border. These items, said the department, “not only pose a serious health risk to end consumers, due to materials and chemicals used, but also put jobs at risk, and promote child labour”.

This year alone, customs have seized:

• Shoes/sports shoes = 93,306
• Mobile phone covers = 4,800
• Auto parts = 1,697
• Cigarettes = 10,500,000
• Wrist watches = 7,670
• Track suit bottoms = 23,550

A new state of the art container scanner is set to arrive next month and will be installed in a newly-built scanning station, said the department. This will not only provide customs with “better resources”, but will also facilitate flow, they said.