PARKTOWN – Collaboration between the police and private security companies led to the arrest of eight men who are suspected to be part of a syndicate that hijack trucks in Gauteng. Police also recovered four firearms, a jamming device, hijacked vehicle and an ambulance used in the commission of crime.
Police received information of a planned truck hijacking which would happen somewhere along the R59 freeway. The information was operationalised and a team that included Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, Tshwane Tactical Response Team, Crime Intelligence, West Rand K9, Johannesburg K9, Fidelity Specialised Services and Community Active Protection was activated.
The team kept close observation along the freeway when they spotted three vehicles, including a marked ambulance, following the truck on the R59 at about 11h00 on Tuesday 08 June 2021.
Police intercepted the vehicles and suspects responded by firing shots at the police which led to a shootout and high speed chase.
The ambulance came to a halt on the R59 and three suspects were apprehended after they were found with two firearms and a jammer. One more suspect was in a Mazda and arrested.
Police pursued the Mercedes Benz and managed to apprehend four more suspects on the M2 East and recovered two firearms. Preliminary investigation revealed that the Mercedes Benz was hijacked in Moffatview in May 2021.
This brings to total 10 suspected truck hijackers arrested in Gauteng in a space of two days following the arrest of the initial two on Monday (07 June) in Sedibeng.
Gauteng Provincial Commissioner commended the team that acted diligently to curb the suspects that might be linked to various cases of courier vehicles and truck hijackings in the province, especially on the freeway.
“This is a breakthrough for us in Gauteng as we have been searching for suspects that are behind the hijacking of trucks in our province, especially after truck hijackings was one of the crimes which showed a rise as we were presenting the 4th quarter statistics two weeks ago”
In a separate incident, police arrested three suspects and recovered two unlicensed firearms and stolen items after a furniture shop was robbed in Heidelberg on the morning of Tuesday, 08 May 2021.
Source: South African Police Service