Five suspected burglary syndicate members arrested in Zwide

Five men suspected of being part of a burglary syndicate operating in Nelson Mandela Bay have been arrested after a four-week investigation.

The men — allegedly linked to 14 burglaries between June last year and September — were arrested on Tuesday morning.

Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the breakthrough came after the getaway car, a white Toyota Corolla, was found abandoned in Walmer Location three weeks ago.

“Through investigation, the detectives tracked down five suspects. At 6am on Tuesday, all five suspects, aged between 29 and 50 years, were arrested at three separate houses in the Zwide area,” she said.

The houses in Makina Street, Mawa Street and Sompontsha Streets in Zwide — less than 500m apart — were all raided and police recovered stolen items including four large televisions, iPads, jewellery boxes, cameras and two firearms worth about R200,000.

“Some of the items have already been identified which is how the group was linked to 14 current open cases.

“This group’s modus operandi was mostly to use a crow bar to force entry to the house,” Naidu said.

“The areas targeted were all over the Bay including Westering, Sunridge Park, Mill Park, Malabar, Bluewater Bay, Summerstrand, Walmer and so on.” 

Naidu said police suspected the five men could be linked to more cases and appealed to victims to come forward to identify the stolen items so police could link the suspects to cases.

Anyone who may have been victim can contact Detective Warrant Officer Shane Bosch on 079-508-9921.

The five men are due to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court by Thursday for possession of possibly stolen firearms, possession of suspected stolen and money laundering.