23 linked to truck hijackings arrested in Midrand

Twenty-three suspects linked to truck hijackings have been arrested on Friday.

Authorities swooped in on the suspects while they were allegedly planning to hijack a truck between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

It’s understood police were met with gunfire when they entered the premises with some suspects armed with rifles and handguns.

Police said there were 27 suspects in total at the premises in President Park, Midrand; four were shot and killed, four were wounded and taken to hospital and 19 taken into police custody.

National police commissioner Khehla Sitole has described the arrests as a breakthrough in efforts in the fight against crime.

“The work done by this multidisciplinary integrated team today is a very significant contribution to our efforts to curb organized crime in the country.”

The police’s Vish Naidoo said: “The wounded suspects were taken to hospital under police guard while the remaining 19 suspects have been detained on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and possession of vehicles suspected to be stolen.”

Police said they seized three rifles including an AK-47 rifle, a Dashbrown rifle, a R5 rifle as well as two pistols at the scene. The team further confiscated 15 vehicles at the scene of which four were either hijacked or stolen in the areas of Garsfontein, Silverton, Wierdebrug, and Olifantsfontein.

-EWN

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