South Africa’s elite police squad – National Intervention Unit -are in Grahamstown guarding the high profile suspects. The National Intervention Unit has come equipped with R-5 automatic rifles, 9m pistols, sub-machine guns, full Kevlar body armour and tactical helmets.
South Africa’s elite police squad – National Intervention Unit -are in Grahamstown guarding the high profile suspects. The National Intervention Unit has come equipped with R-5 automatic rifles, 9m pistols, sub-machine guns, full Kevlar body armour and tactical helmets.
These five high profile suspects have been charged with stealing more than a quarter of a million rands worth of goods and attempting to murder a police officer. The court case is underway at the Grahamstown High Court.
The National Intervention Unit is “specialised in high risk operations,” says Stephen Rheeders, the warrant officer who made the arrests.
The National Intervention Unit has been brought from their base in Mthatha. They are to stay here for the entire six week trial. The elite police unit are escorting the suspects to and from prison and the High Court in various bulletproof vehicles, amid fears that others may attempt to break them out. He believes the group of suspects are part of a much larger criminal organisation. They are being detained at separate, undisclosed security facilities.
Rheeders described the suspect as “high profile and very dangerous.”
Suspects charged
On 13 September 2008 the five men are believed to have arrived at Basil’s Store in Queenstown early in the morning before it was about to open. Wielding firearms, they assaulted four people and stole R274 310.27 in cash and other items from the store. The men used a white Mazda as a getaway vehicle which had been stolen from the East London airport parking area in July.
They then fired shots at Ndzolo Jack, an off-duty flying squad member who gave chase after responding to a police call. The five suspects are being charged for robbery, theft, attempted murder, and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. If the men are found guilty they will be serving a minimum of 20 years imprisonment.
“This was a very quick, very well planned robbery,” says Senior Prosecutor Nicky Turner.
She described the trial, now in its fourth week, as being very interesting because of the unusually overwhelming amount of evidence against the defendants. The prosecutor’s artillery of evidence includes cellphone data of calls made between the five men during the robbery. Fingerprints were also obtained from guns found at the scene.
Cash heist
Despite the accused ripping out and damaging two computer towers that were connected to the security surveillance system, the CCTV footage was restored, linking the suspects to the scene. DNA evidence was also found on a jacket worn by one of the suspects when he cut himself while jumping over a fence trying to escape arrest. During last week’s hearing the men seemed casual and at ease, laughing on occasion. All five have previously been convicted of cash in transit robberies but avoided prison through various legal loopholes.
Rheeders says “Don’t let appearances fool you.”
“These men are very dangerous; we can’t take them lightly.”
