Johannesburg - Five men thought to be behind a spate of crimes involving bogus Johannesburg metro police were arrested in Midrand on Friday, said police.
Police tipped off about a planned truck hijacking surrounded the robbers and arrested them while they were parked at the side of a road, said Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini.
“Police seized traffic officials' uniforms, a jamming device and 9mm pistols,” he said. The cars had been impounded for further investigation.
The uniforms seized included official metro police caps, trousers, and reflector jackets.
Dlamini said the jamming device was thought to have been used to jam tracking signals, police radios and cellphones.
“One of the suspects was identified as a possible ring leader of the group,” he said.
He and the others would appear in the Midrand Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms, posing as members of the police, and conspiracy to rob.
Johannesburg metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said bogus Johannesburg metro police officers stole two cars in Midrand earlier this week.
Spokeswoman Superintendent Edna Mamonyane said three armed men in metro police uniforms stopped a Toyota Quantum near Midrand on Wednesday.
They got into the car and took the man driving it to Eldorado Park, where they left him.
On Monday, people posing as metro police pulled a motorist over and stole his car on the M1, between the Marlboro and Grayston road off-ramps. They left him at the side of the road.
Dlamini said the police's investigations would continue, and he was confident the arrest would solve several cases of truck hijackings and armed robberies. - Sapa