Johannesburg – A crime prevention operation in Ivory Park, Ekurhuleni, led police to two scrapyards and a car wash where three vehicles that had been reported stolen and hijacked earlier in the month were found.
They had false registration numbers and one of them had already been stripped.
Spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Kobeli Mokheseng said on Monday morning that the operation was carried out by the SAPS, Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department and members from SWAT, the Specialised Task Team and the Recovery Unit.
He said following leads that they had received, they went to two scrapyards on George Nyanga Road.
At the first scrapyard, two people fled when they saw the police vehicles. There, Mokheseng said, they found a white Isuzu single-cab bakkie that had been reported stolen in Mamelodi early this month.
At the second scrapyard, three people fled when they saw police approach, Mokheseng said.
Inside the scrapyard was another vehicle that had been reported stolen, an Isuzu bakkie that had been half stripped.
“As the crime fighting team left, they noticed a suspicious green Isuzu double cab parked at a car wash not far from both the scrapyards.
“There was a male occupant in driver’s seat and he pretended to be on a cellphone. However, when police approached he fled.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the vehicle was reported hijacked in Silverton last month,” he said.
Mokheseng said all the vehicles had false number plates.
“The third vehicle, which was found at a car wash, had the number plates that belonged to a VW Golf while its disc was for a Fiat.
Mokheseng said they handed over the matter to the SAPS.
IOL