Police take down crime syndicate after high speed car chase in Limpopo

Four suspects – believed to be members of a syndicate notorious for a string of hitch hiking robberies – have been nabbed during an operation in Tzaneen, police have confirmed.

The suspects, aged between 25 and 37, were caught following information from members of the community about a blue VW Golf alleged to be involved in the robberies.

A suspect was arrested in the Tzaneen “within a short space of time,” according to a police statement.

“When the operation unfolded in Lenyenye township outside Tzaneen, the suspect’s accomplices were spotted travelling with a white BMW without registration numbers. This motor vehicle was pulled off the road but it sped off and a motor vehicle chase ensued until it was cornered in the villages outside Lenyenye,” the statement says.

Three suspects then abandoned the vehicle, running into the nearby bushes on foot, where they were chased and caught by police.

The arrests resulted in the recovery of the two motor vehicles as well as 14 cellphones and some clothing, the origins of which are still to be determined by the police.

“These suspects are still being profiled and they may be connected to a number of similar cases,” said Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe.

These cases took place in hiking spots in Tzaneen, Mankweng and Makhado.

The arrested suspects are expected to soon appear before the Tzaneen Magistrate’s Court.

“The provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service (Saps) in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, has commended” the officers involved for their “meticulous job done in dismantling this criminal syndicate which was terrorising members of the community for some time,” Ngoepe said.

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