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Police bust hijack gang
05/06/2007 16:46 - (SA)
Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane
Carolina - Mpumalanga police foiled the hijacking of a truck loaded with tobacco worth R8.5m on Monday and bust a Gauteng gang wide open.
Twelve suspects were involved in the attack, one of whom was killed and another injured in a shoot-out with police. The others were arrested.
Highveld police spokesperson Captain Leonard Hlathi said police received information that a gang from Soweto was planning to hijack a truck that was travelling from White River to Ermelo.
The attack took place at about 08:45 on the road between Carolina and Machadodorp, where police were lying in wait in unmarked cars.
"Seven suspects were spotted in two cars, a Mazda and a Polo," said Hlathi. "Police kept a close eye as they pulled the truck over at gunpoint."
Suspects panicked
Police then put on their sirens and drove towards the suspects.
The suspects panicked and started shooting at the police. Police returned fire, wounding two suspects, one of whom died.
The other five were arrested immediately.
Police pulled over five more suspects who were travelling in a minibus and found they were part of the same gang.
Meanwhile, police also recovered a truck in Carolina on Monday that had been hijacked in Bramley, in Gauteng, and arrested two more suspects, who are believed to be part of the same gang that attacked the tobacco truck.
"The police established that these Soweto gang had planned to commit a string of hijackings around Mpumalanga," Hlathi said.
The two suspects arrested for the Bramley hijacking will appear in court along with the 11 arrested for the attack on the tobacco truck.
They are scheduled to appear in the Carolina Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
- African Eye
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