Police in Pinetown have discovered a house which was used as a factory to manufacture illicit and counterfeit hair products in Somerset Place in Farningham Ridge, Pinetown on Tuesday afternoon, 26 November 2024.

Police were following up information about a flowbin which was reported stolen in Westmead on Sunday, 24 November 2024. Intelligence led the police to a house in Somerset Place in Pinetown where the stolen flowbin was recovered. During the search, police found that the house was being used to manufacture various hair products.

Initial investigation revealed that the barcodes on the products are of a different product from a North American country. Two undocumented foreign nationals were found hiding in the ceiling and were arrested. Two women, one of them a foreign national were also arrested.

The house is owned by a foreign national, a known pastor who has a church in Umbilo. His vehicle, which was branded with the photographs of himself and his wife, as well as pictures of various brands of the hair products, was found parked in the yard.

Police also found invoices indicating that the hair products have been sold to renowned wholesalers, retail stores and hair salons, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape province. A search for the owner of the house is underway.

The suspects, aged between 34 and 37 years old, will appear in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, 27 November 2024.