Alleged hijacker bust with lucrative load
JMPD officers seized copper worth about R4m from a hijacked truck which was on its way to Durban from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
|||Johannesburg - The police have seized copper worth about R4 million from a hijacked truck which was on its way to Durban from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The truck was spotted near Heidelberg by an air-tracking company and stopped with the help of officers from the Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) early on Monday morning.
The truck was carrying copper from a DRC mine that was due to be exported to China.
“It had been hijacked somewhere around the N3 near Heidelberg and there were a couple of updates in Balfour until it got tracked by Capital Air at the M2 Main Reef off-ramp,” said JMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
He said the police had received a tip-off from another truck driver who said the truck in front of him was being hijacked by thugs in a VW Golf and a Toyota Etios, which fled the scene.
Minnaar said the driver, who is believed to be one of the hijackers, was arrested.
Frederick Peterson, who is responsibly for security at the Impala Terminals - a company specialising in warehousing, logistics and port services in Joburg - said they had received a phone call from Zimbabwean transport officials that one of their trucks had been hijacked.
They immediately informed the police.
The Star