A road safety operation which started this morning at the Mkondeni Road Traffic Inspectorate site weighbridge off the N3, at Pietermaritzburg, has resulted in the arrest of eight foreign nationals.

Three of those arrested were without legal documents, while others were arrested for various traffic offences, including driving with fraudulent drivers’ licenses and transporting passengers without route permits.

The arrested foreign nationals are from Malawi, eSwatini and Mozambique.

KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya says the operation is still ongoing and more arrests are possible.

“They have also discovered a massive risk racket involving foreign truck drivers that are driving with fraudulent licenses. One truck driver who is involved is from Swaziland. They also picked up a taxi driving from Ermelo to Durban, a taxi driver from Mozambique has been charged. He was driving this taxi without the necessary permits transporting passengers. RTI has also intercepted truck drivers who were trying to avoid detention. While following the discovery of millions of undeclared goods weeks ago we have taken a decision to intensify our fight against cross border crime.”