Armed robbery at CNA in Ballito shopping centre

In the early hours of Wednesday morning at 4.50am, the CNA store at the Lifestyle Centre was broken into with merchandise totalling an estimated value of between R150 000 and R200 000 stolen by five armed men.

The suspects broke the lock on the front door with bolt cutters and once inside the store, used a pickaxe and a hammer to smash the glass cabinets storing laptops, cell phones and games consoles.

Enforce, the shopping centre’s security team, were the first to respond to the incident and an open joint investigation is currently under way.

The hit on the store is the second robbery in less than a year, with their last event occurring in October of last year.

CNA has filed a report with Umhlali SAPS, who arrived on the scene at 5am, just ten minutes after the alarms of the store went off.

The men involved are allegedly part of a syndicate operating in the area who prefer to strike at around 5am when activity is at its quietest and according to reports, arrived at the shopping centre in a convoy of two getaway vehicles, each with an estimated five individuals inside.

“We are working closely with Umhlali SAPS, Enforce and our intelligence services to find the perpetrators as quickly as we can,” said Mark Pearse, centre manager of Lifestyle.