Suspects caught offloading R1.8m worth of cooking oil from hijacked truck

Ten people have been arrested by the police after they were caught offloading cooking oil from a hijacked truck.

No one knows where the driver was after his truck was hijacked.

The hijacking occurred in Olifantsfontein, Midrand on Tuesday and the truck was then driven to Mayfair.

Johannesburg Central Police spoksperson, Captain Xoli Mbele said the police saw the suspects while they were patrolling in Mayfair after 4pm.

The suspects were seen offloading cooking oil from a parked truck and loading it into another but as soon as they sighted the police, they started fleeing.

“Police became suspicious and approached the truck. They found that it had been reported hijacked.

“The suspects were arrested. We found that one of them was out on bail for a similar incident in Boksburg.”

The cooking oil were valued to worth over R1.8m.

Mbele said they truck owners were contacted and when they arrived the scene, they were surprised to see the truck at Mayfair because that was not its destination.

Mbele said further investigations also revealed that two out of the ten people arrested may have been directly involved in the hijacking.

The others claimed that they were people who normally sit by the side of the road waiting for trucks to arrive then help offload their goods and get paid.

He said, the hijackers of the truck asked the men who were always looking for petty jobs to help offload but run when they sight the police.
“That’s why they ran but 10 were apprehended. Investigations are under way and suspects will appear soon in the Johannesburg Magistrate Court,” he said.