FOUR suspects between the ages of 23 and 49 were arrested in Cookhouse on Friday, May 10, in connection with a robbery at the Somerset East post office around 12:00 the same day.
The robbers, whose faces were unmasked, entered the post office and ordered employees and customers, at gunpoint, to lie face down on the floor.
Thanks to information from sources who witnessed the robbers flee the scene, police were able to track their motor vehicle to Cookhouse.
A vigilant member of the public alerted the SAPS after noticing three suspicious looking men trying to cross the river on foot in the Cookhouse policing area.
In a joint operation that was subsequently launched, the Somerset East Visible Police, Cookhouse Visible Police, Graaff-Reinet Operational Command and K9 Unit, arrested two of the three suspects as they reached the river bank. The suspects, who were on their way to a hiking spot on the N10 national road, were found to be in possession of three firearms with live ammunition.
Further information led to the arrest of a Bongweni resident, found to be in possession of R3 300, which she had allegedly received from the robbers in exchange for the use of her house during the planning stages and also as a meeting point on completion of the robbery.
The fourth suspect, an employee of the post office, was arrested in Somerset East, and an amount of almost R20 000 was recovered during the operation.
All four suspects appeared in the Somerset East Magistrate’s Court on Monday, May 13, on charges relating to the possession of suspected stolen money and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
The case was remanded until May 21. The Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Liziwe Ntshinga, commended all the SAPS members involved in this joint operation between the Graaff-Reinet and Cradock cluster offices, which led to the successful apprehension and arrest of the perpetrators.
“When we join our forces, swift results are achieved. This arrest is an indication that police throughout the province are on high alert even at our small rural and semi-urban towns,” Ntshinga said.
