Police are still looking for the money which was stolen in last week’s OR Tambo International Airport heist.
The search comes as police arrested four people in connection with the heist.
While police have not confirmed the amount taken or to whom it belongs‚ but sources have told TimesLIVE that nearly R200-million in foreign currency was grabbed during the heist.
Two of those appeared in the Kempton Park Police Station on Tuesday on charges of armed robbery.
Acting National Police Commissioner‚ Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane‚ told a news conference in Pretoria that a policeman was among the four suspects.
He‚ however‚ kept progress around the investigation close to his chest.
Phahlane also declined to comment on the identity of the police officer who has been arrested‚ or his three accomplices.
“The policeman is still being questioned and has not yet appeared in court. At this stage we cannot rule out whether more officers will be arrested or not‚” he said.
He said they could not rule out whether more police officers would be arrested.
“What I can say is that none of the money has been recovered.”
Phahlane said that the arrests had been made through the “hard work of our crime intelligence agents“.
“This was not done through a tip off and credit for the hard work by the Hawks and other police members must be given.”
The heist was carried out by up to 13 robbers on March 7.
At about 7.45pm‚ four security guards were on duty at the airport’s Gate 1 — known as “Rampside” — when a group of men in a police bakkie‚ wearing police uniforms‚ arrived at their guard post.
Accompanying them were men driving a white Mercedes Benz and a Ford Focus ST.
At least one of the vehicles is believed to have had Airports Company South Africa markings on it.
The men had ACSA identity cards which gave them access to the airport’s highly secure cargo area.
It was business as usual — until the gates opened and the trap was sprung.
The gang‚ posing as police and Acsa staff‚ whipped out weapons‚ holding up the guards who were stripped of their phones‚ security radios and access cards‚ which were used to open the gates.
Several of the robbers stayed behind to man the gate. Their mission: to stop anyone from entering. Anyone arriving at the gates was told there was a security situation in the area and no one was to enter or leave.
The others drove towards their target — a tractor from Guardforce International Transportation‚ hauling a dolly.
On the dolly was a container filled with hundreds of millions of rands in foreign currency collected from South Africa’s banks and foreign exchange services. The cargo’s destination was London.
A source involved in foreign currency security said the robbers knew what they were doing.
“To pull off such a heist one needs to know flight numbers‚ arrival and take-off times‚ when the cargo left Guardforce’s vault and which dolly it’s on.
“The only way to get this information is from an airline or security company insider.”
A regular police escort had failed to arrive to accompany them to the plane‚ The Times was told‚ but a Guardforce employee and G4S security escort had no choice but to continue with their delivery.
The guards trundled across the tarmac towards South African Airlines cargo flight 294‚ about a kilometre away from the security vault facility‚ used to store high risk cargo; After all‚ who would breach the area since the last security upgrade following 2006’s R100-million heist?
Nothing had been out of place when the cash — owned by Brink’s Global Services — was delivered to the vault earlier.
When they reached the designated load spot‚ the guards stopped and waited.
The approaching police bakkie and unmarked vehicles‚ all of whom had lights flashing‚ did not raise their suspicions — until gunmen with assault rifles leapt from the vehicles.
As some held up the driver of the tractor and the guard vehicle‚ others broke open the container on the dolly.
The robbers grabbed 27 bags filled with foreign cash before they made their getaway‚ without a shot fired in the robbery — which took less than 30 minutes.
The G4S security guard raised the alarm‚ but when help arrived‚ the gunmen were long gone.
- TMG Digital
OR Tambo heist cash still missing - Police chief
Police are still looking for the money which was stolen in last week’s OR Tambo International Airport heist.
The search comes as police arrested four people in connection with the heist.
While police have not confirmed the amount taken or to whom it belongs‚ but sources have told TimesLIVE that nearly R200-million in foreign currency was grabbed during the heist.
Two of those appeared in the Kempton Park Police Station on Tuesday on charges of armed robbery.
Acting National Police Commissioner‚ Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane‚ told a news conference in Pretoria that a policeman was among the four suspects.
He‚ however‚ kept progress around the investigation close to his chest.
Phahlane also declined to comment on the identity of the police officer who has been arrested‚ or his three accomplices.
“The policeman is still being questioned and has not yet appeared in court. At this stage we cannot rule out whether more officers will be arrested or not‚” he said.
He said they could not rule out whether more police officers would be arrested.
“What I can say is that none of the money has been recovered.”
Phahlane said that the arrests had been made through the “hard work of our crime intelligence agents“.
“This was not done through a tip off and credit for the hard work by the Hawks and other police members must be given.”
The heist was carried out by up to 13 robbers on March 7.
At about 7.45pm‚ four security guards were on duty at the airport’s Gate 1 — known as “Rampside” — when a group of men in a police bakkie‚ wearing police uniforms‚ arrived at their guard post.
Accompanying them were men driving a white Mercedes Benz and a Ford Focus ST.
At least one of the vehicles is believed to have had Airports Company South Africa markings on it.
The men had ACSA identity cards which gave them access to the airport’s highly secure cargo area.
It was business as usual — until the gates opened and the trap was sprung.
The gang‚ posing as police and Acsa staff‚ whipped out weapons‚ holding up the guards who were stripped of their phones‚ security radios and access cards‚ which were used to open the gates.
Several of the robbers stayed behind to man the gate. Their mission: to stop anyone from entering. Anyone arriving at the gates was told there was a security situation in the area and no one was to enter or leave.
The others drove towards their target — a tractor from Guardforce International Transportation‚ hauling a dolly.
On the dolly was a container filled with hundreds of millions of rands in foreign currency collected from South Africa’s banks and foreign exchange services. The cargo’s destination was London.
A source involved in foreign currency security said the robbers knew what they were doing.
“To pull off such a heist one needs to know flight numbers‚ arrival and take-off times‚ when the cargo left Guardforce’s vault and which dolly it’s on.
“The only way to get this information is from an airline or security company insider.”
A regular police escort had failed to arrive to accompany them to the plane‚ The Times was told‚ but a Guardforce employee and G4S security escort had no choice but to continue with their delivery.
The guards trundled across the tarmac towards South African Airlines cargo flight 294‚ about a kilometre away from the security vault facility‚ used to store high risk cargo; After all‚ who would breach the area since the last security upgrade following 2006’s R100-million heist?
Nothing had been out of place when the cash — owned by Brink’s Global Services — was delivered to the vault earlier.
When they reached the designated load spot‚ the guards stopped and waited.
The approaching police bakkie and unmarked vehicles‚ all of whom had lights flashing‚ did not raise their suspicions — until gunmen with assault rifles leapt from the vehicles.
As some held up the driver of the tractor and the guard vehicle‚ others broke open the container on the dolly.
The robbers grabbed 27 bags filled with foreign cash before they made their getaway‚ without a shot fired in the robbery — which took less than 30 minutes.
The G4S security guard raised the alarm‚ but when help arrived‚ the gunmen were long gone.
- TMG Digital
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos