CAPE TOWN – Police in the Eastern Cape are hunting for suspects who hijacked a truck filled with catalytic converters worth more than R14 million.
In a statement released on Sunday, provincial police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said it was reported that on Wednesday, at about 11.30am, a truck transporting catalytic converters left from the business premises in Deal Party and when the vehicle approached Forest Hill near the cemetery, the driver was pulled over by a bakkie.
She said a passenger from the bakkie approached the truck driver and his passenger and pointed a firearm at them.
The driver was forced to drive the truck to Harrower Road where he was then shoved into the back seat of the vehicle.
Naidu said the suspects then took over driving the vehicle to an unknown location, where the catalytic converters were offloaded.
She said the truck driver and his passenger were dropped off in Booysens Park by the suspects and the truck was later found abandoned in bushes in Nooitgedacht.
Naidu added that on Friday, an intelligence operation led by the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation (OCI) team in Gqeberha supported by the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) resulted in the recovery of the catalytic converters.
“At about 5pm investigators from Provincial OCI followed up on information received about the possible storage of the stolen converters. With support from the AGU, a business premises in Bloem Laan in Waterkloof in Greenbushes was raided.
“A total of 10 pallets and four bags of catalytic converters were recovered. They were positively identified by the owner. It is suspected that all the stolen converters were recovered. However, a full audit is still to be conducted by the company,” Naidu said.
Police are still hunting for the suspects and arrests are imminent.