Cigarettes worth R120 000 stolen during armed robbery

Boksburg police Lieutenant Kwenzakwakhe Ngobese said the driver of the kombi said he was accosted by the suspects while waiting at the traffic light at the intersection of Uiterkyk and Rondebult roads, Boksburg Advertiser reported.

“A silver Audi stopped next to the kombi. Two armed men got out and jumped into the kombi.

“The robbers forced the driver to drive to Oberon Road, where they forced him to lie on the ground and look away. They stole 14 boxes full of cartons of cigarettes from the kombi before fleeing the scene,” added Ngobese.

Ngobese said no shots were fired and no one was injured. The suspects remain at large, and a case of armed robbery is being investigated.

In a separate incident, a shootout between hijackers and police officers followed an attempted hijacking of a cigarette truck in Roodeport, on the West Rand, in May.

Roodeport police spokesperson Warrant Officer Nonhlanhla Khumalo told The Citizen: “The suspects fled with the British American Tobacco (Bat) truck while other gang members followed in a white BMW and charcoal metallic Fortuner.”

Khumalo added: “The police vehicle gave chase, and as the hijackers sped down Killburn Street past Hoërskool Roodepoort, another unsuspecting police captain was driving from the opposite direction. The suspects panicked and opened fire at them. However, no injuries were reported.”

– Caxton News Service