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5 seized over Johannesburg airport heist
2006-03-30 07:48:14
By Guardian Reporter and Agencies
South African police have arrested five people in connection with a heist at Johannesburg Airport that saw gunmen seize millions of dollars destined for Tanzania and another African country, officials said yesterday.
The cash was grabbed as it was being offloaded from an aircraft at Johannesburg’s main airport last Saturday.
Police said four men and one woman, including three employees of management firm Airports Company South Africa, had been arrested following the robbery, which local media said involved cash worth at least US$16.5 million.
’’The detectives recovered an undisclosed amount of money, two rifles, a pistol, a bolt cutter, magazines and ammunition,’’ a police statement said, adding that two of those arrested were foreigners who were caught at South Africa’s main border crossing into Zimbabwe.
The daring airport robbery was a new shock for crime-weary South Africa and spurred calls for increased security at Johannesburg International Airport, the country’s main entry point for foreigners.
Police earlier said six to eight men armed with automatic rifles held up police and guards carrying money bags from a South African Airways plane after it arrived from London’s Heathrow airport on Saturday morning.
No passengers were in danger since they had all left the aircraft before the robbery occurred, South African Airways said in a statement.
Police said the suspects faced possible charges of armed robbery and contravening South Africa’s aviation laws, and said further arrests were possible.
Sources in Johannesburg said part of the money was en route to Dar es Salaam where it was to have been delivered to a South African bank operating in Tanzania.
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