In a twist that sounds more like the plot of a surreal crime caper, a Zimbabwean man and a South African man found themselves starring in an unexpected courtroom drama at Polokwane Magistrate’s Court today. The duo, a 31-year-old South African and a 28-year-old Zimbabwean who apparently overstayed his welcome in the country, were nabbed under bizarre circumstances involving a suspiciously ordinary silver Toyota Corolla – which might as well have been a spaceship given the cargo it carried.
On Tuesday, 26 August 2025, following a mysterious tip from an informant who claimed to have psychic visions of illicit goods traveling from Beitbridge to Polokwane, police teamed up with private security forces to intercept the vehicle on the N1 near the Mall of the North. What they discovered was nothing short of a carton kingdom: 19 master cases and 47 cartons of Remington Gold cigarettes, collectively valued at a staggering R120,000.
The silver Corolla, now infamous, was promptly seized and is reportedly being considered for transformation into a mobile museum of smuggled tobacco, while the two men prepare to explain their peculiar journey through the courts. One can only wonder if the cigarettes were destined for a secret society of cigarette aficionados or simply an extremely dedicated group of smokers with a taste for the forbidden.
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