National Police Commissioner, General John Sitole, has commended the swift arrest of four alleged cash-in-transit robbers during a joint intelligence operation on the N1, just outside Sasolburg, Gauteng.
On Monday, a group of armed men attacked an armoured cash-in-transit vehicle in the Ngaleni area of Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape. Explosives were used to open the truck before the suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of money from the vehicle.
Police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said the South African Police Service’s 72-hour Activation Plan was immediately implemented. This entailed the mobilisation of Crime Intelligence, the Hawks, SAPS Detectives and other specialised units.
Yesterday, Crime Intelligence tracked down the suspects between the Eastern Cape and Gauteng and were intercepted by an operational team on the N1 just outside Sasolburg.
The four suspects, aged between 40 and 44, were at the time travelling in a hired car. On searching the vehicle, a substantial amount of money was found hidden inside the door panels of the car, Naidoo said.
“Suspects failed to give a satisfactory explanation why the money was hidden inside their car. Some of the notes were damaged, presumably by the explosion during robbery. The suspects are also suspected to have been involved in a cash-in-transit robbery on the morning of Monday, 3 August 2018 in Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape, where they failed to take money but fled with the firearms of security officers,” he said.
Sitole said since the implementation of the 72-hour Activation Plan, SAPS are realising greater successes in tracking and arresting perpetrators of serious crimes.
"The essence of this plan is to mobilise maximum resources such as Crime Intelligence, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), Forensics and other experts within the stipulated period of time to ensure that all areas of the preliminary investigation are covered thoroughly and no information and evidence that can help in identifying those responsible for the crime is lost," said General Sitole.
Investigations in the case are ongoing, said Naidoo. – SAnews.gov.za