Spaza shop owner held for selling Shoprite milk

A Kamesh shop-owner was arrested after police found 790 litres of Shoprite long-life milk for sale in two of his stores.

The 35-year-old man was arrested after a raid on two of his spaza shops in the Uitenhage area on Thursday morning.

Police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart said the first raid at a spaza shop in Rosedale Drive had led to police finding 10 six-packs of Ritebrand milk for sale.

“During the raid, police were taken to a second shop in Cormorant Crescent, Rosedale, belonging to the same owner.

“At the second store, 103 Ritebrand six-packs were located. Each pack contains six 1-litre milk boxes. Also, another 119 loose milk boxes were found and confiscated,” she said.

Swart said the estimated value of the confiscated milk, which is exclusively produced for Shoprite, was more than R8,500.

“Further investigations led the team to the original theft case that was registered at Swartkops SAPS in January 2019. This milk appears to have been stolen from a warehouse in Port Elizabeth,” she said.

Acting Uitenhage cluster commander Brig Ronald Koll said the bust had come after a tip-off from members of the community.

“We are warning businesses and residents to not buy stolen goods,” he said.

“Let us reject and report all stolen goods. Buying stolen property is a crime and it is punishable by law — so too is receiving stolen goods.

“Reject and report any goods you suspect could have been stolen to the police and let us break the chain of crime and invest in a safer SA.”

The 35-year-old man is due to appear in the Uitenhage magistrate’s court on Friday for possession of the suspected stolen property.