A string of robberies and thefts at camera shops in recent months has left those in the industry questioning whether there is a syndicate operating countrywide.
In the latest incident‚ a group of men broke into the Kameraz camera shop in Rosebank in Johannesburg on Friday and stole a large number of cameras and lenses.
Kameraz brand manager Ryan Cumming said the robbers were “in and out in two minutes“.
“It looked like they had a very specific shopping list. They knew exactly what they were going for‚” he said.
“They took a lot of equipment: long range lenses‚ high-end cameras. We’re still adding up the costs‚” he said.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Bongi Mdletshe said a group of five men arrived around 4:30am on Friday morning‚ broke the entrance into the mall and then proceeded to break into the camera store.
“The five suspects were all wearing balaclavas. From CCTV footage we can see that at least one was armed‚” he said.
“They proceeded to help themselves to a number of expensive cameras and lenses‚” Mdletshe said.
Shaun Moleon‚ the owner of CameraShack in Cape Town‚ said he had suffered losses of more than R200‚000 this year after having camera equipment stolen from him in three separate incidents.
“What I think is that they are working on an order system. They are very specific about what they go for‚” Moleon said.
“The second-hand market is a very lucrative market. The new stuff on the market is very expensive and they can make huge amounts of money if they know what they are doing‚” he said.
Moleon said he believed criminals were targeting cameras because there was a big second-hand market for camera equipment and it was easy to sell items.
Pieter Badenhorst of Cape Town based Photohire said he suffered serious losses after his store was robbed in April by a gang of eight men.
“They took about R7-million worth of gear. It was a group of eight guys and they took us completely by surprise‚” Badenhorst said.
“They were professional. They were very prepared. They wore gloves‚ they knew the place‚ they knew exactly where everything was‚” he said.
What made the robbery at Photohire different from other ones was the fact that the robbers also took very rare‚ specialist and high-end equipment‚ including a very rare Leica S007 and medium format cameras such as Phase Ones
Andre Snyman‚ founder of eblockwatch‚ said he believed that like other crimes‚ the robberies and thefts of cameras would be based on orders.
“Criminals specialise in everything. It has got to be a supply and demand thing‚” he said.
Is the recent spate of countrywide camera shop heists the work of a syndicate?
A string of robberies and thefts at camera shops in recent months has left those in the industry questioning whether there is a syndicate operating countrywide.
In the latest incident‚ a group of men broke into the Kameraz camera shop in Rosebank in Johannesburg on Friday and stole a large number of cameras and lenses.
Kameraz brand manager Ryan Cumming said the robbers were “in and out in two minutes“.
“It looked like they had a very specific shopping list. They knew exactly what they were going for‚” he said.
“They took a lot of equipment: long range lenses‚ high-end cameras. We’re still adding up the costs‚” he said.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Bongi Mdletshe said a group of five men arrived around 4:30am on Friday morning‚ broke the entrance into the mall and then proceeded to break into the camera store.
“The five suspects were all wearing balaclavas. From CCTV footage we can see that at least one was armed‚” he said.
“They proceeded to help themselves to a number of expensive cameras and lenses‚” Mdletshe said.
Shaun Moleon‚ the owner of CameraShack in Cape Town‚ said he had suffered losses of more than R200‚000 this year after having camera equipment stolen from him in three separate incidents.
“What I think is that they are working on an order system. They are very specific about what they go for‚” Moleon said.
“The second-hand market is a very lucrative market. The new stuff on the market is very expensive and they can make huge amounts of money if they know what they are doing‚” he said.
Moleon said he believed criminals were targeting cameras because there was a big second-hand market for camera equipment and it was easy to sell items.
Pieter Badenhorst of Cape Town based Photohire said he suffered serious losses after his store was robbed in April by a gang of eight men.
“They took about R7-million worth of gear. It was a group of eight guys and they took us completely by surprise‚” Badenhorst said.
“They were professional. They were very prepared. They wore gloves‚ they knew the place‚ they knew exactly where everything was‚” he said.
What made the robbery at Photohire different from other ones was the fact that the robbers also took very rare‚ specialist and high-end equipment‚ including a very rare Leica S007 and medium format cameras such as Phase Ones
Andre Snyman‚ founder of eblockwatch‚ said he believed that like other crimes‚ the robberies and thefts of cameras would be based on orders.
“Criminals specialise in everything. It has got to be a supply and demand thing‚” he said.
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