Johannesburg – An Mpumalanga law enforcement team has brought down an alleged hijacking syndicate following the arrest of five suspects aged between 16 and 48, comprising two Mozambicans and three Zimbabweans.
Between 5pm on Monday and the early hours of Tuesday morning, a sting operation was conducted at Kwamhlanga, where suspected stolen trailers as well as some consignments were confiscated.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, the sting operation was carried out by a team consisting of the Krafft Solutions Hi Risk Unit, Tracker Connect, Kwamhlanga Vehicle Investigation Section (VIS), Dennilton K9 Unit (Limpopo), Kwamhlanga K9 Unit as well as members from Kwamhlanga Visible Policing.
The teams received an alert from a vehicle tracking company regarding a trailer which was reportedly stolen on September 9 and had been traced to the Empumelelweni Section in Kwamhlanga.
Upon arrival the members found five people at what seemed to be a big workshop containing a number of suspected stolen trailers as well as other items, including two blue Taute Liner Superlink trailers.
The suspected stolen trailers had been loaded with Aqueous cream body lotions, and information suggests that the trailers were hijacked in Boksburg North on September 9.
The horse that was hooked to the trailers and is said to have been set free could not be located.
A further two containers which were allegedly stolen during business robberies at City Deep in Cleveland and Heidelberg, respectively, were also found and two truck trailers.
It was also found that the vehicle engine numbers had been tampered with.
An 8-ton Man truck which was loaded with the Aqueous cream body lotions is suspected to have been stolen from the recovered hijacked truck/trailers. Two empty drop-side trailers and five empty flat-bed trailers, of which one was half-loaded with oranges, were also found.
The team suspected that some of the recovered items had already been tampered with.
The five suspects are expected to appear at the Kwamhlanga Magistrate’s Court facing charges of possession of suspected stolen property and they can possibly be linked with a number of hijacking incidents as well as robberies and kidnapping incidents.
“Police are working in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs to ascertain their status in the country. Should it be found that they do not possess legal documentation to be in South Africa, further charges with regard to contravention of the Immigration Act will be added,” said Mohlala.
IOL