Members of the SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Crime Intelligence Unit conducted a follow-up operation on Monday night, 10 April 2017 with members of Umzinto SAPS Detective Service and Umzinto K9 Unit, to trace and arrest suspects who were wanted for business and house robberies across KwaZulu-Natal in areas like Port Shepstone, Durban and surrounds, Eshowe and Newcastle.
The modus operandi employed by the suspects was to pose as police officials with firearms and fake police appointment certificates bearing the rank of General.
The first suspect arrested was involved in a house robbery in Mbetheni informal settlement, Umzinto on 17 March 2017 where a resident was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and airtime vouchers by three men who produced a police appointment certificate and threatened the victim with a firearm. The suspects were travelling in a Kia Picanto. The vehicle was found at the suspect’s premises and impounded by police during his arrest.
Further investigations led the police team to Dassenhoek, Mariannhill, Umlazi and Verulam where a further three suspects were arrested and a 9mm pistol with 10 live rounds of ammunition, a replica firearm, seven cellphones and three fake police appointment certificates with the rank of General, were among the items recovered. Thus far, the arrested suspects have been positively linked to a house robbery that was committed in Umlazi and Umzinto in March 2017 and a theft case in Umkomaas committed earlier this month. They had used the same vehicle that had been used during the house robbery in Umzinto. This is a clear example that the SAPS Back to Basics approach to tackling the trio crimes is bearing fruit.
The suspects are expected to appear in court later this week.
They are being profiled to see if they are wanted for any more reported cases.
The firearm will be subjected to ballistics tests to establish if it had been used in the commission of any other crimes.
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