Suspected members of an alleged hijacking syndicate lie on the ground after being arrested at Orange Farm on Tuesday.
A crime intelligence-driven police operation targeting an alleged hijacking syndicate ended in a shootout and the arrest of 17 suspects in Orange Farm on Tuesday morning, after police acted on information about a planned truck hijacking along the N1.
The operation, conducted by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Gauteng, followed intelligence gathered by Gauteng Provincial Crime Intelligence and the Gauteng Highway Patrol indicating that a truck was being targeted by a group of men.
Police traced the suspects to a plot in the Rietfontein area of Orange Farm, where they were allegedly preparing to carry out the hijacking.
Police spokesperson Captain Tintswalo Sibeko said the situation escalated when officers approached the group.
