A truck driver and his two accomplices were busted stealing a pallet of rice meant for a customer in Phoenix, just north of Durban.
The trio, believed to be part of an organised theft syndicate, was caught red-handed in Cornubia, where the stolen goods were quickly recovered.
The bust happened during a joint Crime Prevention Operation led by Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), Metro Police, and Verulam SAPS.
Officers on patrol noticed a group of men transferring rice bags from the truck into a waiting bakkie, immediately raising suspicions.
As soon as the suspects saw the law enforcement convoy closing in, they made a run for it, but quick responses from the team led to the arrest of the truck driver and two Ethiopian nationals believed to be his buyers.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa, the truck driver had allegedly planned a “short delivery” scam by withholding a pallet of rice from his load and selling it off to the Ethiopian nationals for R7000.
Read | Dashcam captures truck driver stealing from another truck
The crew chose a quiet spot near the Cornubia Housing Complex, hoping to pull off the deal unnoticed.
However, their luck ran out when officers swooped in just as the rice bags were being offloaded.
All three suspects were taken into custody, with the stolen rice seized as evidence. This arrest adds to a growing list of truck hijacking and cargo theft cases in the area, as crime prevention units continue cracking down on syndicates targeting truckers and their loads as the festive season approaches.
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