Dawn raid nets kingpins in alleged national tax fraud crime syndicate

AN anti-crime blitz by various law enforcement agencies in South Africa has resulted in the arrest of nine suspects believed to be major players in the organised crime plaguing the country, says Police Minister Fikile Mbalula.

“( On Thursday) a multidisciplinary team, consisting of Hawks, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and the police crime intelligence unit conducted a take-down operation.

“Nine members of a syndicate suspected of operating a large-scale VAT fraud scam, with a potential loss to the fiscus of more than R90 million, were arrested,” Mbalula said.

“Hawks teams arrested the nine suspects, eight men and a woman between the ages of 35 and 70, at their homes in upmarket residential areas in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during a search and seizure operation conducted simultaneously at 12 premises at dawn yesterday.

“These included a number of business premises.”Mbal- ula said criminal syndicates operating in South Africa were “extremely sophisticated” so the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies had to up their game, particularly in intelligence-driven policing.

“You will recall I have insisted on intelligence- led policing under the Organised Crime Threat Assessment as the main tool to target the untouchables, the dark syndicates who are the actual root of serious crime. – African News Agency (ANA)

PICTURE: PHANDO JIKELO/AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA) A police officer was shot dead by two gunmen in his Site B house in Khayelitsha.