POLICE GRAFT, SECURITY BUNGLES UNDER SCRUTINY
ALLEGATIONS of police corruption and security bungles cloak what is arguably SA’s most audacious cash heist at OR Tambo Airport.
As police established a task force yesterday to hunt down the gang of about 10 robbers‚ details of the heist began to emerge from numerous interviews conducted by Sowetan’s sister publication The Times with airport security dealing with currency transfers.
At about 7.45pm on Tuesday night‚ four security guards were on duty at Gate 1, known as “Rampside”, when a group of men in a police bakkie‚ wearing police uniforms‚ arrived at their guard post.
Accompanying them were men driving a white Mercedes Benz and a Ford Focus ST.
The men had Acsa identity cards, which gave them access to the airport’s highly secure cargo area. It was business as usual – until the gates opened and the trap was sprung.
The gang whipped out weapons‚ holding up the guards who were stripped of their phones‚ security radios and access cards‚ which were used to open the gates.
Several of the robbers stayed behind to man the gate. Their mission – to stop anyone from entering. Anyone arriving was told there was a security situation in the area and no one was to enter or leave.
Alwyn Rautenbach‚ chairman of the air cargo operators committee‚ yesterday asked questions about how the gang even got this far.
“Each vehicle that enters that gate must stop. There are grippers that will rip the tyres if the vehicle doesn’t stop. The driver and passengers have to get out of the vehicle.
“You must have an Acsa permit. They scan your fingerprints and you must swipe your Acsa access card and then you are searched.”
However, our reporters entered the cargo areas in the same vicinity yesterday without being screened.
Meanwhile‚ as some robbers manned the gate‚ others drove towards their target – a tractor from Guardforce International Transportation‚ hauling a dolly.
On the dolly was a container filled with millions of rands in foreign currency.
A regular police escort had failed to arrive to accompany them to the plane‚ it emerged‚ but a Guardforce employee and G4S security escort had no choice but to continue with their delivery.
When they reached the designated load spot‚ the guards stopped and waited.
The approaching “police” bakkie and unmarked vehicles‚ all of whom had lights flashing‚ did not raise their suspicions – until gunmen with assault rifles leapt from the vehicles.
As some held up the driver of the tractor and the guard vehicle‚ others broke open the container on the dolly.
The robbers grabbed 27 bags filled with foreign cash before they made their getaway.
Tiaan Taljaard‚ G4S operations manager‚ said the alarm had been raised by their guards during the robbery. He, however‚ declined to elaborate.
Rhys Cullinan of Brink’s Global Services, who owned the money, said he was not at liberty to say who the cash customers were.
A source involved in foreign currency security said: “To pull off such a heist one needs to know flight numbers‚ arrival and take-off times‚ when the cargo left Guardforce’s vault and which dolly it’s on.
“The only way to get this information is from an airline or security company insider.”
Acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane said officers were hard at work on the investigation. He was speaking at an impromptu press briefing in Richmond‚ KwaZulu-Natal.