Eastern Cape police lauded for tracing CIT suspects

The provincial head of the police in the Eastern Cape, Major General Mboiki Obed Ngwenya, has welcomed efforts by the Interim Cash-In-Transit (CIT) task team of the Hawks and the provincial Tactical Response Team (TRT) in locating cash-in-transit (CIT) suspects on Monday. The suspects were located within hours after the incident occurred. It is alleged that on Monday around 06:00, an SBV armoured vehicle (AV) from East London, enroute to Stutterheim, was ambushed on the N6 near Macleantown by a number of suspects in a fleet of vehicles. 'It is further alleged that during the incident, three guards were injured as the AV landed on its side during the attack. An SBV escort vehicle was also allegedly shot at and a backup to the scene was called,' the police said in a statement. The suspects allegedly fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money and abandoned three vehicles from their fleet, which were later circulated and discovered to have been reported stolen in other provinces. Explosives were also recovered on the scene. 'A few hours later, information was received which led the team to Kom location in a homestead of Keiskammahoek. 'The team was received with a hail of bullets from the assailants in the suspicious homestead and the police were forced to retaliate with the same force which ended with five of the assailants fatally wounded,' the police said. Cash in original money bags,3xAK 47 riffles, 1x R1 riffle, 4 x R5 riffles,17 magazines with a large number of live rounds of ammunition were recovered and seized in the household. A 58 year old suspect who happened to be the owner of the homestead was arrested and will appear in King William's Town Magistrate's court soon. A follow up investigation ensued which led to the arrest of three suspects driving in a suspicious Porsche vehicle with GP registration between Queenstown and Cradock. A quick roadblock was set up by Gqeberha Serious Organised Crime Investigation of the Hawks jointly with Cradock SAPS K9 (Dog Unit), Cradock Visible Police (Vi spol), Cradock Public Order Police (POP) and Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) members outside Tarkastad where the suspicious vehicle failed to stop. The chase ensued and conventional methods were used to bring it to a halt. Three suspects aged between 44 and 48 were arrested. Cash in stacks of R100 and R200 notes in original cash bags, four burner cellphones and a Porsche Cayenne vehicle were seized during the arrest. On circulation the Porsche was found to be reported stolen in Gauteng. The three suspects will make their first court appearance before Cradock Magistrate's court on Thursday. Source: South African Government News Agency