The Customs Department has destroyed over 500 pairs of shoes following a court ruling on the counterfeit items seized by inspectors.

The department said this has been a record-breaking year for interceptions. 

"The department managed to target and seize several shipments of counterfeit goods transiting through our border, which not only posed a serious health risk to consumers due to the materials and chemicals used, but also put jobs at risk, and promoted child labour," it said.  

This year alone the department seized:

Shoes/sports shoes = 96,306 pairs; Mobile phone covers = 4,800; Auto parts = 1,697 parts; Cigarettes = 10,500,000; Wrist watches = 7,670; Track suit bottoms = 23,550.

The department said a new state of the art container scanner is to arrive next month and will be installed in a newly built scanning section. This scanning bay will not only give better resources to the department, but will facilitate flow which in turn will allow a steady and rapid flow through Customs.