Shopkeeper arrested for selling cigarettes after cyclist blows his cover

The cigarettes worth almost R90,000 seized from a Cape Town shop owner on Monday.
The cigarettes worth almost R90,000 seized from a Cape Town shop owner on Monday.
Image: Supplied / CT Law Enforcement

A cyclist caught with three boxes of cigarettes on Monday led police to his cigarette “dealer” on Monday.

Officers stopped him in Parow and he quickly came clean.

“He was in clear violation of the lockdown regulations, so they questioned him. He disclosed he went to buy cigarettes at a shop,” said Cape Town law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason.

Cigarette sales during the coronavirus lockdown are banned.

“He showed them three packets of cigarettes in his possession [and] led the officers to a cafe in Voortrekker Road, where the owner confirmed selling him the cigarettes,” said Dyason.

The 35-year-old shop owner was immediately arrested, while the cyclist was fined R1,000 for failing to keep inside his house.

Dyason added that 1,475 packets of cigarettes were found at the shop owner’s premises, valued at over R87,000.