Multidisciplinary intelligence driven operation lead to the arrest of 11 suspects and recovery of chrome worth R5 million

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcome the arrest of 11 suspects and recovery of chrome worth about R5 million on Thursday, 28 April 2022 in Witbank.

According to the report, on the day in question at around 15:00, a team of law enforcement agencies that were in possession of a search warrant conducted a sting operation. The team consisted of members from Witbank SAPS, Witbank
Crime Intelligence members as well as officials from Transnet. A search and seizure was conducted by the astute members at Self Storage offices in Witbank. During the operation at the facilities, a discovery of four facility rooms packed with mining chrome was made. The police then arrested the eleven suspects on the premises whilst they were reportedly busy loading chrome into a truck.

During the initial investigation conducted at the crime scene, it was discovered that the arrested suspects were part of suspects who were allegedly stealing and smuggling chrome from trains between Ferro Metals Witbank and Richardsbay in KwaZulu-Natal.