The recently established multi-disciplinary team – including specialised investigators and forensic experts – deployed to crack down on crime at OR Tambo International Airport (Ortia), has launched an investigation into the latest attempted heist at the cargo precinct in the airport on Saturday.
Reacting to Saturday’s incident, Minister of Transport, Joe Maswanganyi, said: “I can confirm that I am happy with the mechanisms being put in place as part of the joint reactive strategies employed by law enforcement and other key stakeholders in order to combat this type of crime, which negatively impacts the reputation of OR Tambo International Airport.”
He added that crimes at South Africa’s ports of entry would soon be a “thing of the past” given the “new and improved coordinated efforts of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other law enforcement agencies”.
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) confirmed that the attempted robbery at a warehouse in the cargo precinct had been foiled after one of the suspects was shot and another arrested. The highway was closed to traffic following the incident.
An Acsa spokesperson explained that a group of armed men, dressed in relevant service provider reflector jackets, had held up and overpowered security guards at the Swissport warehouse at the cargo precinct just after 10h00 on Saturday morning. The armed robbers then took off in a hijacked truck.
Members of the South African Police Service and an Acsa-contracted private security company responded immediately and confronted the hijackers at the Kempton Park off-ramp of the highway. A shoot-out ensued and one suspect was killed and another arrested.
Two firearms, two radios and two cargo scanners were recovered from these suspects.
The nature and value of the cargo was not disclosed.
