PE cops recover stolen alcohol worth R1,4-million
Stolen liquor valued at more than R1,4-million has been recovered by police officers from the dog unit in Port Elizabeth.
The alcohol was found hidden in a warehouse in the suburb of Schoenmakerskop after it was offloaded from a delivery truck hijacked earlier in the day on Thursday.
Truck left depot for morning delivery run
About R100 000-worth of alcohol is still missing, but the bulk of the truck’s load, as well as three pressure trolley jacks used for offloading, was recovered at the scene.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said the vehicle was hijacked after leaving its depot early in the morning to deliver liquor to retailers when the driver (44) and his crew were intercepted by four males in Grahamstown Road in Port Elizabeth.
The truck had been brought to a near-standstill by a blue VW Polo driving very slowly in front of it. Assailants then leapt from the Polo, climbed aboard the truck, and forced it to come to a stop.
Crew and truck left unharmed in PE suburb
Along with its crew, it was then driven to an unidentified location, where the liquor was offloaded. The empty truck and crew were subsequently dropped off unharmed in the suburb of Walmer, where they were found by members of the police K9 unit.
Around two hours later and after further investigation, police officers, assisted by a tracking company, went to the warehouse where they recovered the bulk of the stolen items. This comprised 652 sealed cases of liquor and 46 loose bottles.
No arrests have been made and a case of truck hijacking is under investigation by the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit (Hijackings) in Port Elizabeth.
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