A joint anti-crime operation on Saturday between the South African Police Service’s National Investigative Unit (NINU), Ekurhuleni Metro Police and Tracker has netted a man who has been for long suspected of being part of a gang of robbers following people from OR Tambo Airport and then robbing them at their destinations.
The team was monitoring routes to and from OR Tambo when they saw a white Mercedes Benz which description fitted that of a vehicle suspected of being used by men who followed unsuspecting victims from the airport and eventually robbing them at their destinations Brig Vishnu Naidoo, police spokesman, said.
Background checks on the vehicle revealed that it had been hijacked in April in Elsburg, Germiston.
The 36-year-old suspect, who was traveling alone, was arrested and it has since been established that he was wanted in connection with at least three other armed robbery cases. On top of that it was established that the suspect is a seasoned criminal with murder, armed robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition convictions under his belt.
The man is expected to appear in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court where he is due to face armed robbery charges.
“This arrest is very encouraging for the NINU team, coming a few weeks after they confronted and brought down another set of dangerous robbers, an incident that resulted in the fatal shooting of two of the robbers and the arrest of another in Pretoria Moot,” Naidoo said.
The National Commissioner of the police, General Riah Phiyega, who established the NINU team to look into syndicates and specific crimes, has commended the police officers for their vigilance.
“This arrest, like last month’s arrest in the Moot area of Pretoria, is a clear indication that we are determined to uproot the so called airport following robberies as they are giving our country a bad name. We fully believe that these continuous arrests will serve as a warning to others that we are keeping a watchful eye over our ports of entry,” Phiyega said.
