A father (65), son (40), and one of their employees (43) were arrested for being in possession of stolen vehicles on September 25 in Crystal Park.
They were found at the chop-shop business during an integrated intelligence-driven operation conducted by the Johannesburg East Crime Intelligence. Members of the SAPS collaborated with the Saturation Unit of Gauteng Traffic Police, Tracker Connect, private security and the Insurance Crime Bureau.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters said upon arrival police found one employee driving a Toyota Hilux carrying two engines that have been tampered with.
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“The van was immediately profiled and confirmed as a vehicle that was stolen and reported at Honeydew SAPS in June 2018,” said Peters.
“The team proceeded to the workshop and found 11 more vehicles that were stripped off their parts.“
Peters said the vehicle models ranged from a Toyota Hilux, Isuzu to Ford Rangers and have since been confirmed as either stolen or hijacked as per cases reported at Garsfontein, Germiston, Randburg, Langlaagte, Lyttleton, Roodepoort and Zonkeizizwe between 2018 and 2020.
Gauteng Police Commissioner Lt Gen Elias Mawela has lauded the sustained collaborative approach between the SAPS, other law enforcement agencies and private sector stakeholders in dealing with vehicle crime.
“The synergy and pooling together of resources is highly commendable as this intensifies our efforts to eradicate hijackings by choking the market and the demand for hijacked and stolen vehicles. To this end this approach has proven to be a winning formula given the recent successful operations,” remarked Mawela.
Peters said consumers are cautioned to be vigilant when shopping for vehicle parts especially from the popular “cheap” workshops as these could be the proceeds of often violent hijackings and theft of motor vehicles during robberies.
The trio is expected to appear at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on September 28.
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