Police arrested eight men on Tuesday who are suspected to be part of a syndicate that hijacks trucks in Gauteng.

Captain Mavela Masondo, police spokesperson said a collaboration between the police and private security companies led to the successful arrest of the group.

“Police also recovered four firearms, a jamming device, hijacked vehicle, and an ambulance used in the commission of crime.”

Masondo said police received information of a planned truck hijacking that would happen somewhere along the R59 free way.

The information was operationalised and a team that included Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, Tshwane Tactical Response Team, Crime Intelligence, West Rand K9, Johannesburg K9, Fidelity Specialised Services, and Community Active Protection was activated.

“The team kept close observation along the freeway when they spotted three vehicles, including a marked ambulance, following the truck on the R59 at about 11h00 on Tuesday.”

Masondo said police intercepted the vehicles and suspects responded by firing shots at the police which led to a shootout and high-speed chase.

“The ambulance came to a halt on the R59 and three suspects were apprehended after they were found with two firearms and a jammer. One more suspect was in a Mazda and arrested.”

According to Masondo police pursued the Mercedes-Benz and managed to apprehend four more suspects on the M2 East and recovered two firearms.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the Mercedes Benz was hijacked in Moffatview in May 2021.

“This brings to total 10 suspected truck hijackers arrested in Gauteng in a space of two days following the arrest of the initial two on Monday in Sedibeng.”

Elias Mawela, Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, commended the team that acted diligently to curb the suspects that might be linked to various cases of courier vehicles and truck hijackings in the province, especially on the freeway.

“This is a breakthrough for us in Gauteng as we have been searching for suspects that are behind the hijacking of trucks in our province, especially after truck hijackings was one of the crimes which showed a rise as we were presenting the 4th quarter statistics two weeks ago”

Masondo added that in a separate incident, police managed to arrest three suspects and recovered two unlicensed firearms and stolen items after a furniture shop was robbed in Heidelberg on the morning of Tuesday.