Police recover 148 cellphones stolen during courier vehicle hijacking, registration plates, police blue light

Investigations directed the police to Umlazi R Section where 148 stolen cellphones were recovered. Also recovered was a vehicle suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime. Picture: SAPS

Investigations directed the police to Umlazi R Section where 148 stolen cellphones were recovered. Also recovered was a vehicle suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime. Picture: SAPS

Published Dec 29, 2022

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Durban – KwaZulu-Natal recovered 148 cellphones that were taken during the hijacking of a courier vehicle on Wednesday.

KZN police said that quick response by multi-disciplinary police units and private security resulted in the recovery of a courier vehicle shortly after it was hijacked in the Umkomaas area of the South Coast on Wednesday.

Police said that the hijacked vehicle was recovered at Area 35 in Umgababa with its luggage missing.

“Investigations directed the police to Umlazi R section where 148 stolen cellphones were recovered.

“Also recovered was a vehicle suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime.

“Police also found registration plates of a vehicle which was reported hijacked in Chatsworth last month, as well as a police blue light,” police said.

“Several bank cards belonging to various people were also found. One of the suspects has been identified and an arrest is imminent,” police added.

Police recovered a vehicle suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime. Picture: SAPS

Last month, a suspect was arrested following a shootout with police during the recovery of three hijacked vehicles, including an ambulance, in KwaZulu-Natal.

KZN Hawks spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said that Hawks officers from Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation working with Ndwedwe Visible Policing, Umhlali K9 unit and private security companies arrested a 32-year-old suspect for hijacking.

“It is alleged that members were conducting an investigation in the Ndwedwe area when they spotted three motor vehicles, including an ambulance, driving at high speed. They tried to stop the vehicles and the suspects fired shots at the police. They abandoned the vehicles and fled to the nearby bushes,” Mhlongo said.

“Police discovered that the ambulance and the other two light vehicles were hijacked. Umhlali K9 members managed to apprehend one suspect, who alighted from one of the vehicles that were hijacked at the Pavilion in March this year.”

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