Durban — A suspect is expected to appear in court soon after he was found in possession of illegal explosives on Friday, January 6, 2023.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that police in Vryheid arrested a 26-year-old man who was found in possession of illegal explosives.
Netshiunda said that the Zone 3 Task Team members followed up on an intelligence tip-off about a suspect who was hitchhiking from the Sikame area to Vryheid.
He said that an operational plan was swiftly put together and the suspect was intercepted on the R69 route.
“Upon searching him, he was found in possession of four grey tube detonators, one shot exploder, two detonator cables and a battery,” Netshiunda said.
“Preliminary investigations have thus far revealed that the explosives were to be sold to suspects who were plotting to bomb ATMs in the Vryheid area.”
“Investigations are ongoing with the police following several leads. The arrested suspect will appear in court soon,” Netshiunda concluded.
Meanwhile, when the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) released its annual crime stats for 2021 on behalf of the banking industry last year, it said that ATM attacks increased by 11% in 2021 with a 17% increase in losses. Incidents where explosives were used increased by 15%, whereas the number of angle grinder incidents decreased by 11%, from 47 in 2020 to 42 incidents in 2021.
Sabric CEO Nischal Mewalall said: “Sabric is concerned by the rise in the number of ATM attacks, despite the technology and security measures deployed to make ATMs safer.”
Moreover, more boots on the ground and Safer Festive Season Operations are reported to have yielded positive results as police across South Africa arrested 8 444 suspects for various crimes in 29 days in December.
Police also seized 445 firearms, as well as 7 219 rounds of ammunition, 9 444 explosives and recovered 244 stolen vehicles.
Daily News