Men arrested for hijacking cigarettes
Two men were arrested for being in possession of cigarettes worth R500,000 after allegedly hijacking a truck in Hammanskraal, police said on Thursday.
Police spokesperson Captain Augustinah Selepe said the incident occurred on the N1 highway on Wednesday.
“It is alleged that the driver of a truck transporting cigarettes was pushed off the road by five suspects driving a blue BMW and caravan taxi.”
Selepe said five men allegedly stopped in front of the truck and pointed a firearm at the driver, before loading the cigarettes into a white Nissan panel van.
“Police received information to be on the lookout for the Nissan Panel Van that was driving towards old Pretoria Road to Pretoria West or Atteridgeville. Gauteng Flying Squad pounced on the suspects along corner Eskia Mphahlele and Charlotte Maxeke.”
Three of the five men managed to get away and are wanted by the police, Selepe said.
“On the scene police confiscated a pistol from the alleged robbers and Nissan Panel Van that was recently hijacked in Mabopane.”
Selepe said the house of one of the men was searched in Mabopane where they recovered cigarettes worth half a million rand.
The two men, aged 38 and 50, will appear in Pretoria Magistrate Court on Friday on charges of hijacking, armed robbery and possession of an unlicensed fire arm and ammunition.