Suspects to appear for possession of explosives and business robbery

NELSPRUIT – A 36-year-old man is expected to appear at the Barberton Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, 24 July 2019, on charges of possession of explosives.

The man was arrested today after police stopped in Low’s Creek stopped a grey Toyota Avanza travelling towards Kaapmuiden during an operation conducted on the R38 road. They proceeded to search the vehicle, which had six passengers and amongst them, one was carrying a bag containing fifteen-meter blue and six-meter green explosives. He was arrested on the spot, hence his appearance tomorrow.

Meanwhile, three men aged between 28 and 34 were arrested yesterday, 22 July 2019, at Delmas, for an alleged business robbery and are also appearing tomorrow at the Delmas Magistrate’s Court.

Information at police disposal revealed that the men stormed into a shop and ambushed the employees, when one of them (employees) recognised one the men as having been involved in a robbery that also took place at the same store in May 2019. As the employee was about to press the panic button, another suspect armed with a firearm was already behind her at the counter. The suspects then took an undisclosed amount of cash and a bag of cellphones before fleeing the scene in a silver Toyota Etios with Gauteng registration numbers.

Members of Delmas police were notified and they quickly responded to the information received and spotted the vehicle at a T-junction along the R555 road, headed to Sundra. A chase ensued between the suspects and the police until the Etios was stopped by Sundra police who were alerted about the incident and conducted an operation. The four suspects made an attempt to escape but three were arrested while one managed to escape. A 9mm firearm with the serial number filed off was recovered under the passenger’s seat together with the cellphones and cash. A probe revealed that the firearm was stolen at a security company in Johannesburg.

The fourth suspect is still at large, anyone with information is urged to contact Warrant Officer Jacque Snook at 072 479 1408 or call the Crime Stop number 08600 10111.