Police move in swiftly to foil a cash-in-transit heist, 18 suspected #CITRobberies suspects killed during a shootout with police.
The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola says police have broken the back of a syndicate possibly responsible for a number of Cash-In-Transit (CIT) heists in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
Various units within the SAPS have been keeping observation on a group of suspects who were allegedly planning a Cash-In-Transit (CIT) heist in Limpopo. The observation was made for a number of days before they pounced on an identified address in Makhado today.
As soon as police approached the address, the group of suspects began shooting, police retaliated. Sixteen males and two females were declared dead at the scene.
At a second address in Thohoyandou, four suspects were arrested.
Ten vehicles including several high powered performance vehicles and seven automatic rifles have been seized.
Various policing experts are still combing the scene.
A senior police officer attached to the DPCI was wounded during the shootout and is currently receiving medical care in hospital.
General Masemola led a delegation of senior police officers to the crime scene this afternoon and says police are clamping down on serious and violent crimes throughout the country.