A 45-year-old security company owner has been arrested by the Hawks after being found in possession of hijacked cars that were allegedly used in an attempted cash-in-transit (CIT) robbery on Tuesday.
The Hawks believe the company’s cars were used in an attempted heist near Boipatong in Gauteng. An armoured vehicle was travelling on Frikkie Meyer Street when it was rammed from behind twice by a charcoal Mercedes-Benz.
“The driver veered off the road into the nearby bushes. Shots were allegedly fired at the armoured truck. A group of armed suspects surrounded the stuck truck and instructed the guards to alight,” Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said.
The guards were disarmed. The robbers then attempted to blow up the armoured vehicle but were unsuccessful.
“They sped off… empty-handed, using several vehicles. A crack team led by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime, Sedibeng Crime Intelligence, Tactical Response Team and K9 was established,” Ramovha said.
The Hawks swooped in on the suspects at an address along Fowler Steet in Vanderbijlpark on Thursday afternoon, Ramovha said.
“Two of the vehicles, a white Audi A3 and a blue Hyundai Tucson, suspected to have been used as getaway vehicles were recovered from the address. Further investigation led to the confiscation of six 9mm pistols, bullet-proof jackets and reflective jackets.”
Ramovha said the 45-year-old man was arrested and is expected to appear in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The Gauteng Provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, welcomed the arrest and congratulated the investigation team for its relentless efforts.
In an unrelated cash-in-transit heist, a group of about 20 armed men made off with an undisclosed amount of money after bombing a cash van on the N12 freeway near Wolmaransstad in North West on Thursday.
The group allegedly rammed the cash van off the road, bombed it and made off with the money.
The North West Emergency Medical Services said two people were taken to Nic Bodenstein Hospital in Wolmaransstad for medical attention following the heist.
Source: News24, The Citizen, IOL, The South African, image from Twitter: @LimChronicle