Cape Town - A suspected crowbar gang was allegedly about to rob a Tokai house before vigilant members, attached to the Flying Squad and the K9 Unit, landed them behind bars on Sunday.
The suspects, aged 28, 31, 33 and 49, were found in possession of two unlicensed 9mm pistols, ammunition, and possible housebreaking implements.
“The members were patrolling the street of Tokai on Sunday afternoon, when a suspicious vehicle, with four male occupants, drew their attention. The instincts of the members, to stop and search the vehicle, were not in the best interest of the occupants. It is suspected that the suspects were about to perpetrate a house robbery in the area,” said police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut.
The suspects are expected to appear in Wynberg once they have been charged.
Their arrest comes as police operations in the Western Cape yielded significant results, as officers managed to recover unlicensed firearms and seize substantial quantities of alcohol at the weekend.
Members of the provincial integrated team clamped down on a residence in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, after following a tip-off that a suspect was in possession of an unlicensed firearm on Friday.
Traut said the premises were searched and a 31-year-old suspect was arrested, in possession of a 9mm pistol and ammunition. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Another suspect was arrested with an unlicensed firearm and ammunition in Lentegeur. He is expected to make an appearance in Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Traut said, in another incident, members of the flying squad were in hot pursuit of a suspect, after he appeared suspicious in Langa.
“He managed to evade arrest, but dropped his firearm which was seized. The suspect is still being sought,” he said.
Lockdown compliance inspections led to the seizure of a substantial quantity of liquor, after the Disaster Management Act was defied, at Mfuleni, on Friday.
“Serious and violent crimes, as well as the illegal possession of firearms, are high on the priority list of the Western Cape police, and our efforts are aimed at reducing the number of firearms in the wrong hands,” Traut said.
Cape Times