Two stolen Toyota vehicles, worth an estimated R2m combined, were recovered in separate police operations after disappearing from parking lots in Mbombela and Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Fortuner recovered next to stadium

Police in Mpumalanga, working with a private tracking company, managed to trace and recover a Toyota Fortuner just over five hours after it was stolen.

According to the vehicle owner, he stopped at a hospital in Mbombela at around 13:00 to visit a patient. Upon his return, he discovered his vehicle missing from the parking lot.

A tracking device signal was later detected in Matsulu, but authorities were unable to trace its exact location.

Hours later, at around 18:30, another signal was picked up around 30km away, in Msogwaba, Pienaar. The tracing team recovered the Fortuner abandoned next to a stadium, where it had already been fitted with false Gauteng number plates.

No suspects were found at the scene, and investigations continue.

Two arrested after allegedly dismantling Land Cruiser VX

On the same day in Bloemfontein, a Toyota Land Cruiser VX was stolen from a Bayswater mall parking.

Police were mobilised after receiving information about the vehicle, fitted with Northern Cape number plates.

A joint team comprising Bloemfontein Flying Squad members and a private security company traced the vehicle to a residential property in nearby Phahameng.

Two suspects, allegedly in the process of dismantling the vehicle, were arrested and tools and equipment believed to have been used in the process were seized.

Free State police said in a statement that two people, aged 24 and 34, are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court this week on a charge of possession of a suspected stolen vehicle.

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