Breakthrough against mall robberies
Police may be closing in on robbers believed to have been behind a spate of mall robberies in Gauteng the past few weeks, beginning with the arrest of five men in Johannesburg early on Tuesday.
The police have made a breakthrough in their strive to end a spate of mall robberies in Gauteng.
Four heavily-armed men were arrested early on Tuesday morning in a crime intelligence raid in Brixton and Doornfontein in Johannesburg.
Brigadier Neville Malila said in a statement the arrests followed an intense investigation and several intelligence leads on the robberies.
“The four suspects, aged between 28 and 44 years, were arrested at a hide-out in Brixton and Doornfontein. Ponfiscated a 9mm pistol, three semi-automatic rifles as well as 97 life rounds of ammunition.”
Malila said the men would be charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. He did not rule out the possibility of more charges.
“The investigation will focus on their alleged involvement in a robbery at the Black Chain Shopping Centre in Diepkloof, Soweto, ATM bombings, taxi violence and business robbery. This is a remarkable breakthrough for the police in their investigation in mall robberies.”
He said the spate of robberies and attacks on malls was of great concern to the police.
No fewer than 11 malls have in recent weeks been robbed by a group of heavily-armed men. Some of the Pretoria malls targeted include the Kolonnade shopping centre, Centurion Mall, North Park Mall and Wonderpark mall.
Malila said the police had collected evidence at the various crime scenes, including video footage.
“We engaged Business against Crime (BAC) and SABRIC as part of the process to stop the wave of robberies. We have set up meetings with mall management to beef up security at malls as well as looking at their security systems at the premises.”
He said the police had identified 12 malls where police visibility would be increased, and the possibility of a link between the robberies would be investigated.
A reward of up to R200 000 has been offered for any information on the robberies.
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