Pretoria - Six suspects who cornered and disarmed SBV security guards and robbed them of an undisclosed amount of money in Ogies, Mpumalanga, this morning were arrested by the Hawks before they could leave the scene of the crime.
The SBV security personnel were loading money at the ATMs when the suspects struck. However, members of the tactical unit, who had prior information about the robbery, pounced on them on the spot and arrested all of them and retrieved the cash.
A network jammer, two vehicles, the stolen money and a firearm have been recovered.
The suspects, aged between 41 and 47, will appear before the Ogies Magistrate’s Court facing charges of armed robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition and illegal possession of network jammer.
One of the suspects has already been linked to four serious cases, which include truck hijacking and armed robbery.
Further investigations to ascertain if more suspects were involved in the foiled armed robbery are underway.
The Acting Head of the Hawks, Major General Mthandazo Ntlemeza, praised the members for how they executed the arrests.
“We applaud our brave members for once again putting their lives on the line to safeguard the country.
“We needed dedicated members who are prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that all forms of criminality are combated with maximum aggression for the safety of our people.
“Criminals must be warned that we are ready to deal with them. We will not allow our communities to be terrorised by a lawless minority. We will disrupt all your operations, we will derail all your plans and furthermore, we will ensure that we remove you from society, for ours is to maintain order, peace and stability,” said Ntlemeza. – SAnews.gov.za
