- A chop shop was found, in which parts from stolen and hijacked vehicles were found.
- A father and son were arrested.
- Police found 11 vehicles at the shop – all were stripped of their parts.
A father and son were arrested on Friday afternoon after police pounced on a chop shop in Crystal Park, Ekurhuleni.
In the shop, various parts of stolen and hijacked vehicles were found.
“[Police] on arrival found one employee driving a Toyota Hilux, carrying two engines that have been tampered with. The van was immediately profiled and confirmed as a vehicle that was stolen and reported at Honeydew SAPS in June 2018,” Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said in a statement on Saturday.
Information was obtained by the Johannesburg East Crime Intelligence, and members of SAPS collaborated with the Saturation Unit of the Gauteng Traffic Police, Tracker Connect, private security and the Insurance Crime Bureau during the operation on Friday.
“The team proceeded to the workshop and found 11 more vehicles that were stripped off their parts,” Peters added.
The vehicle models ranged from Toyota Hilux, Isuzu and Ford Ranger.
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The vehicles have since been confirmed as either stolen or hijacked as per cases reported at Garsfontein, Germiston, Randburg, Langlaagte, Lyttleton, Roodepoort and Zonkeizizwe between 2018 and 2020, Peters said.
Police subsequently arrested the 65-year-old owner of the business, together with his 40-year-old son, and a 43-year-old employee.
The trio are expected to appear in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on Monday on a charge of possession of stolen vehicles.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela lauded the collaborative approach of law enforcement agencies in dealing with vehicle crime.
“The synergy and pooling together of resources is highly commendable as this intensifies our efforts to eradicate hijackings by choking the market and the demand for hijacked and stolen vehicles.
“To this end, this approach has proven to be a winning formula, given the recent successful operations,” Mawela said.
Police have cautioned consumers to be vigilant when shopping for vehicle parts.
