FIVE members of a crime syndicate were arrested in Alton on Tuesday in a dramatic take-down reminiscent of a TV cop special.
The arrests resulted after large-scale theft of tyres at Bell Equipment, the elaborate fraud system having first been detected in January this year.
Months of investigation coupled with infiltration of the syndicate led to an undercover operative purchasing six tyres worth about R400 000 last week, the cash handover taking place in the Richards Bay CBD and the entire transaction caught on camera.
In effect, Bell ‘bought back’ their own tyres and a second purchase was arranged for Tuesday.
Bell head of security, Marius Jonker and colleagues watched on CCTV cameras as eight huge heavy-duty tyres worth more than half a million rand were loaded into a company truck.
The truck proceeded to premises in Alton where members of the Empangeni Crime Intelligence and Public Order Policing units struck as the tyres were being offloaded.
As armed, plain-clothed cops appeared ‘from nowhere’ the suspects, who would have accepted R150 000 for the tyres, offered no resistance and were taken to the Richards Bay police station where they were charged.
Two further arrests followed at the Bell Equipment premises as investigations into the syndicate continued.
The unnamed suspects are due to appear in court today (Thursday).
