MPUMALANGA –A police Constable Zacharia Magopa was remanded in custody after he appeared at the Vaalbank Magistrate Court on Thursday, 04 February 2021.
He was reportedly arrested on Tuesday, 2 February 2021 during the Crime intelligence driven operation conducted by members of the Hawks in Mpumalanga and CIT tracking team attached to the Hawks Head Office as well as Kwamhlanga’s Crime Intelligence.
Two of his alleged co-accused were taken in for questioning and were later released.
According to the Mpumalanga Hawks Spokesperson Capt Dineo Sekgotodi, Magopa was allegedly linked to a cash in transit incident which happened in the early hours of the morning on Monday, 01 February 2021.
Three security guards were said to have been accosted by unknown suspects who were driving an Audi Q3 and a Mercedes Benz while on their way transporting money to several ATMs around Moutse West.
Several shots were fired at the armed vehicle causing it to come to standstill.
The security guards were disarmed and explosives were used to gain access to the money bags and the suspects fled scene with an undisclosed amount of cash in several vehicles. Three vehicles which include a Mercedes Benz, Q3 and A4 Audi were later found abondoned in different locations near Vaalbank.
It was later established through further investigation that the Mercedes Benz vehicle was reportedly stolen (case opened at Jeppe Police Station) in February 2020.
The A4 was stolen in Yeoville during December 2020 and the Q3 was reported as stolen in Sebenza in October 2020.
A charcoal Kia Rio was also found abandoned which is also reported stolen in Secunda in July 2020.
Further Investigation by the Hawks led team to recover R30 000.00 from a Sangoma which was used as payment to perform some rituals for the protection of the suspects to evade arrest.
The case against Magopa was postponed to the 11 February 2021 for a formal bail application.
