Eight men who are suspected of an armed robbery spree in the Silkaatsnek and De Kroon areas last week, were arrested over the Easter weekend by members of the Hartbeespoort Dam crime prevention unit and the Brits Trio Task Team.

“The suspected armed robbers were arrested for possession of suspected stolen goods and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition,” North West police said on Monday.

This follows a spate of armed robberies at businesses on the R511 in De Kroon and at an estate in the area where 11 armed men stormed premises. During one incident, the robbers shot at security response officers, causing a vehicle to flip over.

“Six suspects were arrested after the police followed leads. The suspects aged between 22 and 33 were traced and arrested at three different shacks in the Rasa informal settlement near Brits. They were found in possession of suspected stolen property such as clothes, blankets, microwave, camping chairs, remote controls, plasma televisions and other items,” said police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone

The police also found an unlicensed firearm.
Two more suspects were arrested in the Schaumburg squatter camp in Hartbeespoort the following day.

Preliminary investigation linked the suspects to seven cases of business robberies committed between March and April 2020.

The suspects appeared in the Brits Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 14 April, for possession of suspected stolen property and illegal possession of a firearm.

The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, praised the police in the Brits Cluster for working tirelessly to ensure that the suspects were apprehended.