Pretoria – 19 April 2018 – The South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Multidisciplinary Task Team conducted an early morning intelligence driven Takedown Operation at Rossettenville, Johannesburg, that led to the arrest of seven suspects linked to three kidnapping incidents in Gauteng and the recovery of a hijacked vehicle and a firearm.
The Multidisciplinary Task Team consisting of the Detectives, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Crime Intelligence, Hostage Negotiators, K9 Unit and National Intervention Unit raided three addresses in South Hills, Johannesburg. At one of the addresses, an Eldorado Park kidnap victim, kidnapped on the 16th of April 2018, was rescued during the operation. Four men and a woman with an infant were arrested for kidnapping and a number of cellphones and cash were seized.
Two more men were arrested at the other raided premises for possession of a hijacked motor vehicle and stolen firearm, a 9mm pistol. The vehicle, a red Volkswagen Polo fitted with false registration numbers, was reported hijacked at Mondeor Police Station on the 15th of April 2018.
The suspects are linked to three cases of kidnapping, the Eldorado Park, Cullinan and Alberton. The victim on the Cullinan case was kidnapped on the 8th of April 2018 and released nine days later on the 17th while the victim on the Alberton case was kidnapped on 7 March 2018 and released on 8 April 2018.
Investigations to determine if these suspects cannot be linked to more incidents of kidnapping around the country are underway.
