Suspects caught transporting copper cables and other items belonging to the City of Cape Town, Telkom, and Transnet were arrested on Monday, July 1, by the City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Metal Theft Unit.
At about 1.30pm, the unit conducted an autonomous operation in Plantation Road in Wetton in front of a scrap metal dealer’s premises.
City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement spokesperson, Wayne Dyason said while inspecting the vehicles conveying scrap, officers observed a white vehicle heavily loaded and approaching the entrance of the scrapyard.
He said the vehicle was pulled over and the driver was interviewed.
“The officers noticed a small section of a fire hydrant cover on the vehicle and immediately asked the driver and the occupants to unpack the vehicle. This led to the discovery of about 350kg of copper cables that were cut up and burnt.
“The copper cables were identified as the property of Transnet and Telkom. The value of the Transnet copper cables recovered is about R297,000, excluding the repair and replacement of the damaged infrastructure,” Dyason said.
The items recovered were: 16 bull dog clips and 350kg cut pieces of catinery cable belonging to Transnet, two gulley grid frames and a fire hydrant belonging to the City of Cape Town, and 35kg burnt copper cable belonging to Telkom.
The suspects could not provide officers with any reasonable explanation for being in possession of the items and were placed under arrest.
The vehicle was also confiscated.
The suspects are expected to appear in court soon on charges relating to possession of stolen property.
IOL