Yoshini Perumal|Published
A Tongaat woman and two businessmen from Verulam and Newlands were arrested for allegedly operating a syndicate selling stolen canned fish, cereals, detergents and food products.
Some of the goods were linked to a robbery where a security guard was killed and a consignment of goods was taken earlier this year.
Deval Maharaj, 31, Mahomed Desai, 27, Samkeliswe Angel Mkhonde, 34, and Buyelani Handsome Biyela, 35, appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court last week.
They were granted R5,000 bail each.
A source close to the investigation told post.co.za that the investigation against the four suspects was ongoing and that there were still outstanding arrests to be made.
He said the suspects were allegedly working in cahoots with business managers and security officials.
“The four are allegedly linked to a syndicate involved in buying and distributing stolen goods. They were arrested during a sting operation when police set them up and made a deal with them to purchase the stolen goods,” the source added.
Prem Balram, head of Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), said they were called in to lend support following the recovery of the stolen goods.
He said the arrests followed an intensive investigation by a team of detectives and Visible Policing (Vispol) members from the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) SAPS.
“Investigations led police officers to a warehouse in Grangetown in Verulam, where stolen goods valued at approximately R600,000 were recovered. The items included canned fish, detergents, cereals and other food products.
“Among the recovered goods were 18,000 boxes of a single item, stacked on 36 pallets.
“Some of the products were stolen from the scene of an incident in which the delivery driver was shot and killed earlier this year.”
Balram said investigations revealed that the stolen goods were allegedly supplied by one of the businessmen to local businesses, all of which were reportedly unaware that the products were stolen.
He said other items were allegedly sold to members of the public from various premises, including a local market.