Two men are set to appear in court for fraud and possession of suspected stolen propety following their arrest on Tuesday morning (July 14).

A routine police patrol on Stephen Dlamini Road (formerly Essenwood Road) led the Berea SAPS Crime Prevention Unit members to a major bust.

Berea SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Nokuthula Dlamini said, “Members of Berea Crime Prevention were patrolling along Stephen Dlamini Road when they noticed two men inside a red Mercedes-Benz.
“The males appeared to be counting a large amount of Capitec cards, which gave the police an impression that they could be involved in something illegal.”

Also read: Three foreign nationals, two locals arrested for fraud

Upon searching the said vehicle, the police reportedly discovered 143 Capitec entrepreneur debit cards, 53 Capitec personal debit cards, two Standard Bank debit cards, two Tsogo Sun rewards cards, two Post Bank cards, two Sun MVG cards, two SASSA debit cards, six South African IDs, 42 cellphones, and two laptops.

Musgrave-Essenwood UIP Steering Committee member Dees Ahmed shared his elation on behalf of the residents and business community in the area.

“This is awesome news, very reassuring for the community of the Greater Berea area, very well done for the Berea SAPS under Sergeant Dlamini and the station commander Colonel Hlengiwe Gcabashe, to get the suspects by randomly pouncing on suspicious behaviour.

Also read: Musgrave man robbed, thieves rack up R2500 from his card

“This leaves a lot to be imagined about what is happening in our area. If we had real roadblocks, I’m sure we could discover this kind of criminal activity and their agendas. This would help in bringing our crime stats down. We thank the police for running the extra mile. We know they do regular stop-and-go, Friday patrols, and that is remarkable,” said Ahmed.

“The suspects were charged with cases of fraud and possession of suspected stolen property and were detained at Berea SAPS police station. They will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court today (Wednesday). Arresting officers on the scene were Sergeant Nikolai Marx, Constable Lungisani Sibiya, and Constable Sbusiso Hlongwane,” Dlamini shared.

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