LIMPOPO – Five people believed to be part of a syndicate operating around Limpopo were on Thursday, 8 August, arrested soon after committing a robbery at a clothing store in the Bela-Bela CBD.
Police Spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo reports that four men and two women arrived at the store at 10:30, driving in a white VW Polo and a black City Golf. After entering the store, they ordered the staff to lie down and tied them up. The store manager was instructed to unlock the safe and place 198 cellphones into a bag.
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The incident was reported to the Police and the Bela-Bela Crime Intelligence Unit began following leads. Information was disseminated to all the surrounding stations for a lookout.
“The City Golf was spotted next to Maubane off-ramp by the Pienaarsrivier police, northbound towards Gauteng. A chase ensued and five suspects were cornered and arrested and the robbed items were recovered,” Mojapelo said.
The following items were recovered:
• 29 Samsung J4 Core cellphones.
• Eight Hisense U605’s.
• Nine Nokia 1 plus’.
• Five Samsung A10’s.
• 11 Nokia 105’s.
• One Huawei Y6.
• 11 wristwatches.
• 15 wallets.
• A black City Golf
The value of the recovered items is estimated at R90 000.
Mojapelo says preliminary investigations have revealed that all the suspects are from Gauteng and are linked to a series of business robberies committed across Limpopo and other provinces.
“The suspects, who were targeting sports and clothing stores, have already been linked to a series of similar crimes that have been committed since January 2019 in Limpopo and other provinces. The suspects will appear in the Bela- Bela Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 12 August, on charges of business robbery and possession of suspected stolen properties,” he said.
Police are still tracing other suspects. Anyone with information is requested to contact the crime stop number 0860010111 or the nearest police station.
