Pretoria – Three alleged hijackers were arrested in Mpumalanga after they were found in possession of a hijacked truck as well as a big consignment of food which was loaded in the truck shortly before it was snatched in Waterval Boven on Tuesday.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said soon after information was received by police on the hijacking, an intelligence-driven operation was initiated including security companies and police.
“The truck was tracked down on the R36 Road in Badfontein near Lydenburg. It was spotted alongside the road next to a small shack with one male suspect who was arrested on the spot. Strangely, the truck was open at the back and further than that, about 83 boxes of the load with chicken meat inside were already offloaded,” Mohlala said.
“Vigilant law enforcement officials spotted two other suspicious males who were hitch-hiking close by, to evade arrest before members arrived. It appears as if they attempted to get away by hitch-hiking from another truck but they were soon cornered.”
Whilst searching the suspects, Mohlala said police found a rifle in their possession, a balaclava as well as a cellphone that was allegedly stolen from the truck driver during the hijacking incident earlier.
“The firearm will undergo ballistic testing to determine if it was used in the commission of crime elsewhere. They too were swiftly arrested but only to discover that one of them is an employee who works for the company that owns the truck, who happens to be somehow allegedly involved in this whole robbery plan,” Mohlala said.
The suspects were charged for possession of an unlicensed firearm with ammunition, possession of suspected stolen property including the cellphone, the truck and goods.
“They could possibly be linked to the hijacking and more charges may be added against the trio as the investigation continues,” Mohlala said.
Provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcomed the arrest and warned that collaborative efforts to curb crime across the province have intensified.
“We are indeed collaboratively intensifying our efforts to deal decisively with crime and the results are indisputable. We just plead with our communities to join us in numbers by providing us with information about criminal activities,” Manamela said.
“We promise to do our part as evident by this arrest and many of such in the past.”
IOL