File picture: Supplied
POTCHEFSTROOM - Targeting suspected fraudsters and robbers, members of the North West Provincial Organised and Commercial Crimes unit arrested three more men as part of efforts to bring to book the remaining Project "Robocop" suspects.
According to North West police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh, among those arrested was a suspect from Jan Kempdorp in the Northern Cape.
On April 30, two suspects were apprehended in operations in Ventersdorp and Vryburg in the North West. The suspects, identified as 44-year-old Raselane Kaweni and 31-year-old Seuntjie Yman, were subsequently presented before the Vryburg Magistrate’s Court on May 2. Both men have been remanded in custody and are due to appear in court again on Monday, May 6.
In a separate operation on May 2, a 53-year-old man was arrested in Jan Kempdorp. The suspect, whose identity has not been disclosed, is believed to be connected to 10 separate cases of aggravated robbery, kidnapping and extortion. These crimes were allegedly committed at Huhudi Location between November 2020 and August 2022. The suspect is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Vryburg on May 6.
These recent arrests bring the total number of suspects apprehended since the termination of Project “Robocop” to 18.
The project, which commenced in 2021, was registered following incidents where victims from different provinces opened cases after either being defrauded, robbed or kidnapped by members of a syndicate that operated in Klerksdorp, Wolmaransstad, Schweizer-Reneke and Huhudi.
The North West provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Sello Kwena, commended the team for their concerted efforts to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.