Police have shut down a chop shop where they found vehicle parts – mainly for bakkies – worth an estimated R1.4 million.
Members of the Gauteng Flying Squad picked up the signal of a car that had beenreported stolen in Midrand.
The signal took them to a storage facility near Wonderboom Airport.
Police spokesman Constable Sam Shibambo said the officers had asked the guard at the gate to open for them so that they could search the facility for the vehicle.
“Police found the bakkie they were looking for and many others inside.
“Some of the bakkies had been stripped of parts and the chassis and engine numbers had been scraped off,” said Shibambo.
Police found engines, gearboxes, loading bins, doors and other parts of twin-cab bakkies.
Officers arrested a 39-year-old man who had rented the storage facilities where the vehicles were found.
Police said they were expecting more arrests as they didn’t believe he was working alone.
They couldn’t say whether they suspected it might be the work of a syndicate targeting bakkies.
“We suspect that all the cars were stolen but we are still trying to establish where they come from.
“We are expecting to make more arrests as investigations continue,” said Shibambo.
Police had contacted border control posts to check whether the suspect or his associates might have left the country with bakkies.
“We suspect that the people were selling the cars after scraping off their serial numbers,“ said Shibambo.
Pretoria News