{"id":266510,"date":"2025-07-17T13:03:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=266510"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T11:03:36","slug":"illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/","title":{"rendered":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":266511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"1","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"7970","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"1","article_feature_type":"normal","article_main_image_caption":"Collaborative efforts between the Welkom K9 unit, security intelligence and the Ladybrand SARS customs led to a successful confiscation of counterfeit goods estimated to be more than R725 000. The Welkom K9 unit members received intelligence led information about foreign national businesses dealing in different kinds of illicit tobacco products and medicines in Welkom. The information was operationalised on Thursday, 10 July and the team conducted searches on the three identified foreign national businesses. \u201cThey found illicit tobacco products and medicines with an estimated worth of R725 000. These goods were confiscated by SARS customs for further investigations,\u201d says Sgt. Palesa Thabana.     Photo: SAPS","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Marti","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":["vin Operation_P1"],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7970],"tags":[7911,91],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-266510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-crime","tag-top"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom | Vista<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VistaNewsNuus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Vista\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Vista\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe\"},\"headline\":\"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":6,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Crime\",\"Top\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2025\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom | Vista\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Collaborative efforts between the Welkom K9 unit, security intelligence and the Ladybrand SARS customs led to a successful confiscation of counterfeit goods estimated to be more than R725 000. The Welkom K9 unit members received intelligence led information about foreign national businesses dealing in different kinds of illicit tobacco products and medicines in Welkom. The information was operationalised on Thursday, 10 July and the team conducted searches on the three identified foreign national businesses. \u201cThey found illicit tobacco products and medicines with an estimated worth of R725 000. These goods were confiscated by SARS customs for further investigations,\u201d says Sgt. Palesa Thabana. Photo: SAPS\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/\",\"name\":\"Vista News\",\"description\":\"To Inform, Engage and Empower Local Communities\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Vista News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/vista-site-icon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/vista-site-icon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Vista News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/VistaNewsNuus\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/vistanewspaper\"],\"description\":\"Vista is a regional newspaper based in Welkom, the capital of Matjhabeng Municipality, in the central Free State. Vista, an English\\\/Afrikaans publication, first brought news to the community on 23 April 1971, with the following message on the front page: \u201cWe are here to write about the Goldfield and its people. We are here to serve the area in which we find ourselves, and with the help of our readers \u2013 who refine us with their constructive criticism.\",\"email\":\"vistanews@novusmedia.co.za\",\"telephone\":\"+27573571304\",\"legalName\":\"Novus Media (Pty) Ltd\",\"foundingDate\":\"2025-01-01\",\"vatID\":\"4100318916\",\"taxID\":\"2000\\\/018234\\\/07\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"51\",\"maxValue\":\"200\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe\",\"name\":\"Vista\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Vista\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/vistanews\\\/author\\\/vista\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom | Vista","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom","og_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/","og_site_name":"Vista","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VistaNewsNuus","article_published_time":"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Vista","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Vista","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/"},"author":{"name":"Vista","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#\/schema\/person\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe"},"headline":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom","datePublished":"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/"},"wordCount":6,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg","keywords":["Crime","Top"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2025","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/","name":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom | Vista","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-17T11:03:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-17T11:03:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"Collaborative efforts between the Welkom K9 unit, security intelligence and the Ladybrand SARS customs led to a successful confiscation of counterfeit goods estimated to be more than R725 000. The Welkom K9 unit members received intelligence led information about foreign national businesses dealing in different kinds of illicit tobacco products and medicines in Welkom. The information was operationalised on Thursday, 10 July and the team conducted searches on the three identified foreign national businesses. \u201cThey found illicit tobacco products and medicines with an estimated worth of R725 000. These goods were confiscated by SARS customs for further investigations,\u201d says Sgt. Palesa Thabana. Photo: SAPS"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/illicit-goods-trade-foiled-in-welkom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Illicit goods trade foiled in Welkom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/","name":"Vista News","description":"To Inform, Engage and Empower Local Communities","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#organization","name":"Vista News","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/vista-site-icon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/vista-site-icon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Vista News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VistaNewsNuus","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vistanewspaper"],"description":"Vista is a regional newspaper based in Welkom, the capital of Matjhabeng Municipality, in the central Free State. Vista, an English\/Afrikaans publication, first brought news to the community on 23 April 1971, with the following message on the front page: \u201cWe are here to write about the Goldfield and its people. We are here to serve the area in which we find ourselves, and with the help of our readers \u2013 who refine us with their constructive criticism.","email":"vistanews@novusmedia.co.za","telephone":"+27573571304","legalName":"Novus Media (Pty) Ltd","foundingDate":"2025-01-01","vatID":"4100318916","taxID":"2000\/018234\/07","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"51","maxValue":"200"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/#\/schema\/person\/21061a6ffd102003447c400f78cc5bfe","name":"Vista","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9314f07ac8cd90ba9f9b01f9bc9c51ab642163d2b4e145dce575ce1d9f0cce5f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Vista"},"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/author\/vista\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DRUGS3_13371.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":79190,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/confiscated\/","url_meta":{"origin":266510,"position":0},"title":"Confiscated","author":"Vista","date":"8 May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hard blow dealt toe businesses storing illegal goods In a significant breakthrough, six store managers were arrested by the Operation Vala uMgodi team during a second-hand goods compliance inspection in the Free State. They were arrested during an operation that was executed at trading areas in Koppie Alleen Road, Mooi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/illegal4_79142.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/illegal4_79142.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/illegal4_79142.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/illegal4_79142.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/illegal4_79142.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Vista","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266510"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=266510"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=266510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}