Airport gangs 'target' arrivals
2008-03-18 09:19
Johannesburg - According to the American Embassy, 14 Americans in the past 12 months have been robbed at gunpoint after landing at the OR Tambo international airport in Kempton Park, Beeld newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The embassy said that gangs of robbers targeted people arriving at airport and robbed them either at their destinations or on the way to their destinations.
The embassy's website warned that organised criminal gangs were targeting visitors and residents at shopping malls and at the OR Tambo airport.
"When a victim is identified he or she is followed to his or her destination and robbed, usually at gunpoint, though the use of violence is generally limited to those who offer resistance."
Airport staff involved
Beeld reported that another entry on the website read: "It seems that certain employees at the airport are involved in crime and it is believed that these employees inform criminals waiting outside the airport about which tourists declared valuable items or cash."
Beeld reported media liaison officer for the embassy, Sharon Hudson-Dean, as saying that no travel warnings concerning South Africa have been issued.
This statement stands in contrast to the police task team finding that no syndicates were operating at the airport that specifically targeted tourists.
Superintendent Vish Naidoo said the department of foreign affairs had been contacted to pressure the Americans to remove the claims from their websites.
"They are free to warn their citizens but we want proof of these allegations. ... Our investigations have shown that these are nothing more than allegations," Naidoo told Beeld.
It was reported on Tuesday that three Vietnamese men have become the latest victims of robbers who follow tourists from the OR Tambo International Airport and attack them.
Three men were accosted when they got to a house in Brooklyn, Pretoria, from the airport at 19:50 on Monday, said Captain Colette Weilbach.
A red 4x4 pulled up behind them and four men held them at gunpoint taking their luggage and cellphones before fleeing, she said, adding that the serious and violent crimes unit was investigating the incident.
Gauteng national police spokesperson Superintendent Vish Naidoo announced last Monday that, despite a spate of similar robberies, there was no evidence a syndicate was targeting air travellers.
Just two days later, a Nigerian was robbed of his luggage on arrival at Johannesburg's exclusive Westcliff Hotel from the airport, in Kempton Park.
Another two tourists, who were in the reception area checking out at the time, were also robbed of their bags.
- SAPA