The South African Police Service (Saps) has arrested six suspects for allegedly manufacturing and distributing various brands of counterfeit alcoholic beverages in the Eastern Cape. The men were handcuffed in Stutterheim on Wednesday night, 22 April 2026. Counterfeit liquor estimated at more than R500 000 was confiscated.
Police tip-off Police said they received information about suspicious activities involving a white Nissan panel van with Gauteng registration number plates in transit from KuGompo City to Stutterheim. “Members from visible policing in Stutterheim manned a vehicle checkpoint (VCP) on the N6 targeting the said vehicle. Around 19:00, members spotted the vehicle fitting the description, and pulled it off the road,” Captain Yolisa Mgolodela “The vehicle had one occupant and was filled with clean, empty bottles.” Investigations Preliminary investigation led members to a house in Entilini, Lower Khologha (Stutterheim), where they allegedly found five occupants producing and packaging various brands of counterfeit alcoholic spirits.
Mgolodela officers seized several boxes of illicit alcohol and R6 570 in cash. “It is believed that the site has been operating as a manufacturing factory from 2025. The six suspects, aged between 22 and 36, are due to appear in court soon on charges of contravening the Counterfeit Goods Act 31 of 1997.
They will also be charged for contravening the Liquor Act.” Machines used to manufacture fake alcohol. Picture: Eastern Cape Saps. Illicit alcohol Acting Amathole District Commissioner, Brigadier Zinikele Freddie, applauded the members for the arrests.
“Illicit alcohol is a health hazard, and communities are urged to report these unlawful factories to the police.” Drug lab bust Meanwhile, the Durban High Court has granted a forfeiture order worth approximately R15 million against a commercial property in Newlands East, Durban, that had been used as a clandestine drug laboratory. The commercial property in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) valued at about R32 million was forfeited to the state on Wednesday. In March 2024, members of the Provincial Organised Crime Unit, working with the eThekwini District Task Team, executed a search warrant at Riverhorse Place.
Inside, police discovered two drug compressor machines, a drug mixer, plastic packets suspected to contain methaqualone powder and 20 litres of unidentified liquid chemicals. KZN police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said a foreign national found on the premises was arrested and charged for being in the country illegally.