Cape Town – A total of 23 truck hijacking suspects were arrested in Midrand, Gauteng, on Friday.
Four of the arrested suspects were wounded and four others shot and killed when a multi-disciplinary team comprising members from the SAPS Crime Intelligence, the Johannesburg Flying Squad, Gauteng Highway Patrol, EMPD Specialised Task Team and JMPD K9 Unit swooped on the suspects, who were allegedly planning to hijack a truck between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
When the team entered the premises in President Park, Midrand, they were met with gunfire by some of the suspects armed with rifles and handguns, police said in a statement.
The team seized three rifles, including an AK-47, a Dashbrown rifle, a R5 rifle as well as two pistols at the scene.
The team further confiscated 15 vehicles at the scene, of which four were either hijacked or stolen in the areas of Garsfontein, Silverton, Wierdabrug and Olifantsfontein.
The wounded suspects were taken to hospital under police guard while the remaining 19 suspects are being detained on charges of attempted murder, conspiring to commit armed robbery, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and possession of vehicles suspected to stolen.
’’The work done by this multi-disciplinary integrated team today is a very significant contribution to our efforts to curb organised crime in the country,’’ said national police commissioner General Khehla John Sitole, Sitole said.
IOL