Four Pakistani men were arrested in Pretoria on Wednesday night in connection with several robbery cases near the Johannesburg International Airport, police said.
Superintendent Eugene Opperman said on Thursday morning that police had investigated the cases for several weeks before arresting the men who had allegedly preyed on foreigners travelling from the airport along the R21 freeway.
Fake police identification certificates, three stolen vehicles and a substantial amount of foreign currency was also confiscated.
He said the men apparently followed the travellers and at some point put a blue rotating police light on their car’s roof to pull their victims over.
They allegedly identified themselves as policemen with fake identification certificates and robbed the foreigners of their personal belongings and money.
Opperman said the syndicate have been connected to at least 20 cases of robbery on the north east rand and in the Pretoria area. The investigation was still continuing and more arrests were expected.
The acting area commissioner of the north rand policing area, Director Vincent Leshabane, congratulated the task team who had worked on the case.
”Their expertise and diligence led to the arrest of a gang that gave South Africa a bad foreign image,” he said.
”These police officers have certainly made the R21 a much safer place for people to travel on.” – Sapa