Hijacked ‘car smuggler’ appears in Bronkhorstspruit court
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Bonnie Nxumalo said they received information about criminals allegedly smuggling stolen vehicles to neighbouring countries and an investigation ensued resulting in the arrest of Enock Kalubangwe.
The Hawks have said they will investigate a hijacked vehicle smuggling syndicate as a man appeared in the Bronkhorstspruit magistrate’s court on Tuesday after being busted with hijacked trucks and bakkies.
Enock Kalubangwe (53) appeared in the court on a charge of possession of suspected stolen property.
He was arrested last week, in Bapsfontein near Bronkhorstspruit in possession of two suspected hijacked heavy-load trucks and a Ford Ranger during a police raid.
Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Bonnie Nxumalo said they received information about criminals allegedly smuggling stolen vehicles to neighbouring countries and an investigation ensued resulting in the arrest of Kalubangwe.
“At this stage, we have discovered that he allegedly smuggles them to his home country, Zambia,” Nxumalo said.
“A number of vehicle registration documents, false registration plates and cellphones were confiscated.”
A stolen Toyota Hilux was also recovered in the Pretoria CBD, and Nxumalo said Kalubangwe was also charged for this.
The theft of Toyota Hiluxes has also been a problem in the east of Pretoria.
In August, police recovered a Toyota Hilux in Limpopo that had been reported hijacked on the N4 freeway near Silverton.
A 27-year-old man had reported while on the freeway before the Lynburn off-ramp, three armed suspects in a silver VW Polo hijacked him.
The hijacking of trucks has become common in Bronkhorstspruit.
The January-March 2022 crime statistics recorded three cases in the area.
In 2021, the station was in at ninth spot nationally for truck hijackings.
Nxumalo said the Hawks will investigate the systematic hijacking and smuggling of vehicles by syndicates saying that “more arrests cannot be ruled out as the investigation is ongoing”.
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