'Air Wolf' swoops on car gang
2008-06-10 07:45
Nelspruit - Exceptionally fine flying by a police helicopter ensured that a syndicate apparently smuggling stolen vehicles through the Kruger National Park was caught.
Seven members of the suspected syndicate, including the leader, were caught during the joint operation by White River dog unit and Nelspruit aerial unit.
In one of the chases on Monday morning, the suspected robbers sped at 190km/h on a gravel road between Satara and N'wanetsi to try to get away from the helicopter.
The run-up to the breakthrough began on Saturday night when three Toyota vehicles (a Fortuner, a Quantum and a Hilux) were stolen during a midnight robbery.
The Fortuner was traced by its tracking signal to Satara rest camp in the Kruger Park.
The dog unit's Superintendent Paul Bester said ground teams and the police helicopter chased the vehicle when it left Satara.
Sped off road and crashed
At some stage, the men in the vehicle realised the helicopter was behind them.
With the helicopter on their heels, they tried in vain to get away.
At a T-junction near Gudzani Dam the vehicle, that had only 6 000km on the clock, sped off the road.
It was badly damaged and two suspects tried to flee among the bushes. While the pilot, Superintendent Henk Goedhart, hovered metres above the suspects, his men caught them on the ground.
The two suspects were arrested after the helicopter landed. Information obtained from the suspects, led police to another hijacked vehicle.
The Toyota Hilux bakkie that was hijacked in Hazyview on Saturday was also chased by the helicopter.
The vehicle crashed into a tree about 6km from the Tshokwane picnic spot. The suspect couldn't get out of the vehicle because he couldn't open the doors after the impact.
He then provided information that ensured that a stolen three-ton Toyota Dyna bakkie was stopped about 2km from Tshokwane and two more suspects were arrested.
The suspected gang was dealt a final blow when its leader and an accomplice were detained at the Orpen Gate in the northern part of the park.
Three other vehicles recovered
The police then retrieved an Opel Corsa, several cellphones and more than R20 000 in cash.
Another Toyota Hilux that had been stolen in Rustenburg was later traced to Hectorspruit near Komatipoort and theToyota Quantum was found in Tembisa on the East Rand.
It is suspected the syndicate smuggled the vehicles to Mozambique through the Kruger Park.