Cape Town - Eight suspects are expected to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Monday, August 30, on charges of fraud.
In a statement released on Thursday, provincial police spokesperson FC van Wyk said police managed to prevent a logistics company from losing R2.4 million.
He said the police conducted an operation after the company previously reported a fraud-related incident to the value of just over R1 million last year.
Van Wyk said the investigation revealed that a syndicate was placing fraudulent orders for goods at the logistics company.
The operation, which was carried out on Thursday, resulted in the arrest of three foreign nationals and five South African men in Bellville after they had collected another consignment of goods via fraudulent documentation.
The suspects, aged between 27 and 35, are being detained.
Van Wyk added that further investigation into the syndicate was likely to lead to more arrests.
In a separate incident, police arrested nine suspects on various charges on Thursday during a four-hour cordon and search operation conducted from 4am until 8am in Ramaphosa informal settlement in Browns Farm, Philippi.
The suspects were arrested on a range of charges, which included the possession of handmade firearms and firearm parts, possession of ammunition, possession of drugs, dealing in dagga, dealing in liquor, as well as possession of stolen goods.
Two suspects who were being sought by police were also arrested on charges of malicious damage to property and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
In an unrelated incident, bags of cannabis were recovered after they were found abandoned in the Browns Farm area.
Once charged, all the suspects, aged between 23 and 34, are expected to appear in the Athlone and Philippi magistrate’s courts, respectively.
African News Agency (ANA)