Limpopo police have arrested nine suspects linked to a syndicate responsible for a series of ATM bombings across the province between 2023 and 2024.

According to an article published by Polokwane Review, the intelligence-driven operation was led by the Provincial Tracking Team, Provincial Investigations Unit and the Capricorn Flying Squad, with assistance from a private security company.

Police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba says armed men attacked a fuel station in Morudji Village in the Bolobedu policing precinct in the early hours of Friday morning and held employees at gunpoint before bombing the ATM.

“The attempt was unsuccessful as the ATM was empty. The following day, the same group targeted another ATM in the Giyani policing area, successfully stealing an undisclosed amount of cash. While fleeing, the suspects encountered police, leading to a shoot-out. They abandoned a silver sedan before escaping on foot and the vehicle was seized as evidence,” he explains.

Acting on intelligence, operational teams tracked the suspects travelling from Giyani to Gauteng.

In the early hours of Sunday, officers intercepted two vehicles on the R81 highway near Mall of the North in Polokwane; a white sedan with four occupants and a maroon sedan with five.

A search of the vehicles led to the recovery of explosives, two illegal firearms with 33 live rounds of ammunition and dye-stained cash, suspected proceeds from the ATM bombings. Both vehicles were confiscated.

“The suspects, aged between 28 and 43, include four South African nationals and five undocumented foreign nationals who face multiple charges, including possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition; possession of illegal explosives; possession of dye-stained money and contravention of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 (for the undocumented foreign nationals),” he says.

Ledwaba adds that they will appear before various magistrate’s courts in the province.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe praised the swift response and teamwork of the police.

“The suspects thought they could evade justice, but our dedicated teams remained relentless in their pursuit,” she says.

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