Limpopo car theft syndicate cracked

The South African Police Service (SAPS) provincial tracking team in Limpopo has conducted an intelligence-led operation which led to a major breakthrough by cracking a motor vehicle theft syndicate operating from an Ivydale plot near Polokwane, police said on Saturday.

Police followed a suspected stolen car until it entered the plot and upon arrival a number of suspected stolen motor vehicles were recovered, Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said.

The recovered vehicles included a Toyota Yaris, a Nissan Sentra, a Mazda 3, and a Ford Courier bakkie.

“The preliminary investigations have revealed that all these vehicles were registered in Botswana and their chassis numbers were [ground down]. The police also found a lot of registration documents from Botswana and Zimbabwe as well as Botswana license discs.”

One suspect, aged 20, was arrested for possession of suspected stolen motor vehicles and would appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Police investigations to determine the origin of the vehicles were continuing, Ngoepe said.

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