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Fri Oct 10, 3:20 PM ET |
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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Robbers hijacked a truckload of chocolate near Johannesburg after posing as traffic officers, with fake uniforms and a car with a blue light on the roof, a police spokesman said.
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Superintendent Andy Pieke said the driver of a Swaziland-registered truck with a load of chocolate and dairy products was flagged down on Thursday by three men, south of the city centre.
"The driver, 39, and his mate were forced out of the truck and into the car at gunpoint and taken to an unknown destination where they were kept blindfolded for about five hours," Pieke told the SAPA news agency.
They were then forced into another vehicle and forced out a short while later east of Johannesburg.
"Neither man was harmed, and the truck and its load of chocolate and dairy products with a total value of 550,000 rand (79,000 dollars), are still missing," Pieke said.
Although hijackings occur frequently in South Africa, there has been a decrease in recent years, but police were still battling to contain so-called cash-in-transit heists, where heavily armed gangs attack guard trucks carrying cash, usually resulting in a shootout before the robbers flee with the loot.
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