Hawks and TRT Task Team Successfully Arrested Cash-In-Transit Suspects in Eastern Cape

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Eastern Cape, South Africa – MaObed Ngwenya, the provincial head of the police in the Eastern Cape, has welcomed the efforts of the Interim Cash-In-Transit (CIT) task team of the Hawks and the provincial Tactical Response Team (TRT) in swiftly locating cash-in-transit (CIT) suspects on Monday.

The suspects were arrested within hours after the incident occurred. Allegedly, around 06:00 on Monday, an SBV armoured vehicle (AV) travelling from East London to Stutterheim was ambushed on the N6 near Macleantown by a group 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 fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of money and abandoned three vehicles from their fleet, which were later found to have been reported stolen in other provinces. Explosives were also recovered at 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.

Recovered from the household were cash in original money bags, 3xAK 47 rifles, 1x R1 rifle, 4x R5 rifles, 17 magazines, and a large number of live rounds of ammunition. A 58-year-old suspect, the owner of the homestead, was arrested and will appear in King William’s Town Magistrate’s court soon.

Further investigations led to the arrest of three suspects driving 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 (Vispol), 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. Upon 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.

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