PRETORIA – The National Commissioner of Police, General Khehla John Sitole has praised an integrated SAPS team for multiple arrests of suspects allegedly involved in cash-in-transit robberies.

Yesterday afternoon, during an Intelligence-driven operation, members from the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks), the SAPS Special Task Force (STF) and the National Intervention Unit (NIU), in separate incidents, intercepted two groups of men travelling in two vehicles on the N1 near Paarl towards Cape Town.

In the first incident just before 16:00, the team intercepted a sedan wherein three suspects were arrested. A short while later the second team tried to intercept a quantum minibus which resulted in a shootout. Subsequently, three suspects were fatally wounded, two were injured and three others were arrested.

The National Commissioner has applauded the swift apprehension of the suspects and has also sent congratulatory messages to the members responsible for the arrests. The alertness and quick operationalisation of the intelligence received by the team is indicative of the in-roads we are making with regards to the implementation of the multi-disciplinary approach we are taking to fight serious and violent crimes such as cash-in-transit robberies, said General Sitole.

Source: South African Police Service