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Diverting all of Ridwaans calls to his own cellphone, Riaad saw the extent of the harassment his brother faced by what appeared to be at least half a dozen men.
‘I’m standing outside your shop. I can see your son and my finger is on the trigger.” This was what Riaad Abrams* was told on Wednesday afternoon, just one of dozens of threats he and his brother have had to endure over the past week.
Abrams’s brother, Ridwaan*, had been receiving strange text messages since July last year, badgering him for money. Ridwaan, who is a business owner in Kroonstad, ignored these messages for months, thinking it was not serious. But last week, the text messages turned into threatening phone calls, saying that his family would be killed if he didn’t come up with the sum of R100 000.
Riaad, a police reservist, decided that enough was enough and contacted Crime Line and his contacts in the Hawks. Diverting all of Ridwaan’s calls to his own cellphone, Riaad saw the extent of the harassment his brother faced by what appeared to be at least half a dozen men.
“Do u want to see my first target from your family?” an sms from January 22 read, referring to the Abrams’s niece. But it was on Wednesday, when one member of the group phoned and told Riaad that his nephew would be killed, that the Hawks’ operation to catch the men was set in motion.
The men, who had allegedly been linked to several other cases of extortion in the Free State, were traced to a flat in Kroonstad. But police needed to catch one of the men in the act before they could finally pounce.
The Abrams brothers contacted the group, explaining that Ridwaan did not want his family hurt, and had raised R18 000 to pay the men off.
They told the man that they would be back in Kroonstad from Gauteng around 9pm.
The man on the other end of the line demanded at least R20 000 and then hung up, no details confirmed. Worried that the bait hadn’t been taken, the brothers made their way to Kroonstad with two Hawks officers hiding in the boot and back seat of the car. It was 8.45pm when the first call came. The brothers were told to leave the money in a white plastic bag outside a shop near Ridwaan’s own business.
Filling the bag with newspapers, the group was ready and drove towards the drop-off point. As they arrived at the correct street a second call came in, threats pouring out of the phone about a local police van that had been patrolling the area.
“We had to calm them down. They thought we’d contacted the local police and were completely spooked,” said Riaad.
After the man at the other end of the line had been convinced the passing police van was not associated with the brothers, they were told to stop the car immediately.
“Put the bag by that tree,” said the man. It was then that Riaad knew they were being watched.
Obeying the man’s orders, the Abrams drove further away and parked in a concealed parking spot, where their police escorts left the vehicle. It was then that a man approached the tree where they had placed the bag of fake money.
Police swooped on the man and took him to the apartment complex, where his six cohorts tried to escape arrest. Some of the men jumped from their second-storey patio and others climbed on to their neighbours’ balconies, but were unable to escape from the Hawks task team.
More than 20 cellphones were recovered from the flat, which police believe may have been used in numerous extortion cases across the province.
The seven Pakistani nationals were arrested and are facing charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit murder.
*Crime Line’s Yusuf Abramjee has asked that anyone experiencing this sort of crime should also contact Crime Line through the sms service at 32211.
*Not their real names. - The Star
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Khalsa Singh, wrote
Send these Pakis back to the sh*t hole they came from. Same for the Nigerians, Zims and Mozs that are polluting our country. Why is it we dont offer asylum to Swedes or Danes but just to the countries with a history of crime.
Jopak, wrote
lock em up n throw away d key...cause if u deport they just come back like insects...eish RSA when r u gonna learn
Anonymous, wrote
When pseudonyms are used in a story, it loses its credibility. The criminals were caught so why are real names not used for victims, criminals and police officers involved?
kenneth, wrote
foerign natioanls will always be brought into the country as long as they vote for the ANC then they get a house and a seat on parliament.
Loudly Safrican, wrote
Well done Hawks and the Adams Family (or whatever your real name is). Pity about the racist and xenophobic posts, though. If the various branches of the police continue to uphold the law, SA won't be so attractive for criminals.
mohamed, wrote
Benson, wrote
Hahaha, I guess the ANC had international support in the armed struggle because the evil corrupt countries who supported them knew the ANC would deliver freedom with a twist and in African-style. Well, you got freedom and your destiny is k@k and betaal.
buster, wrote
dammit!! get rid of ALL these foreigners...indians,nigeians,pakis,malawins who are causing such problems and let the old govt rule our country again.at least well have peace and law and order and the floodgates to our boundaries will be locked.i say agin get the whole load of vthese alien dirt out of our beautilful land.what the F*%*# is dis??
Geyser, wrote
Why is our Home Affairs Department allowing these foreigners of criminal background into the country? Why can the Home Affairs not have a intelligence section that checks people's backgrounds and also checks back in their countries of origins for their records before granting them permits to stay here. SA has been turned into a haven for crime syndicates from all over the world.
Gino, wrote
If these Pakis are not selling drugs then they into extortion...jail them or send these illegal aliens back to pakistan
Teejay, wrote
Anonymous, wrote
why do we still let these people into our country, the "Chinese" are killing all our rhino & other wild life, "Pakistani" are always involved in extortion, Murders & kidnappings, South Africa could do with tightening our borders if these sort of people do this here they did it in there own country's so why let them in we need tighter border controls.
Jess, wrote
So we are supposed to feel sorry for these thugs who enter our country and cry foul when they get harrassed in Home Affairs queues? Send them back to their hell holes, we have enough crap to deal with than to still have them feeding off our tax money in prison as well! I hope Mr. Zuma and Nxosasana Dlamini Zuma read these articles! We do not need people emigrating to our country if they have not been vetted properly! I am not for xenophobia however I cannot blame anyone for acting out when you have to deal with these blasted criminals!
Clever Trevor, wrote
These cowards come from Pakistan to make quick money by causing misery to their own Muslim brothers.....SIS.
Hard Courage, wrote
Well done to the victims for their bravery, and to the Hawks for a successful operation. But the story again highlights the fact that SA is a very much favoured destination for foreign criminals. How were they able to get into the country? How were they able to operate with impunity? Who did they all bribe? We simply need to be much more thorough in screening and keeping out foreign thugs.
Greg, wrote
This is great work by the Hawks and also very brave of the guys being threatened. Surely the best method would be to send these criminals back to Pakistan to face their laws?
Realist, wrote
This is not the first time i heard of extortion by Pakistani nationals.These guys are ruthless and are almost set up mafia style in SA .
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