Three Chinese Nationals Among 14 Arrested Criminals Who Kidnapped A Zimbabwean Businessman In Johannesburg

Three Chinese nationals are among 14 arrested criminals who kidnapped a Zimbabwean businessman in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Three Chinese Nationals Part Of 14 Criminals Who Kidnapped A Zimbabwean Businessman

The 14 criminals forcefully took away the Zimbabwean businessman near his workplace on Sunday. The South African Police Service’s (SAPS) anti-kidnapping task team captured the kidnappers in Gauteng on Monday afternoon.

SA cops found the victim safe and unharmed at an address in Diepkloof, Soweto.

Brigadier Athlenda Mathe of the SAPS explained that the anti-kidnapping task team, which includes various SAPS units and private security partners, launched an extensive search for the kidnappers.

Brigadier Mathe reported:

“They managed to trace the 14 kidnappers at various locations. The first eight were traced to an apartment in Greenstone Park. And the rest were arrested in Sandton. Multiple speed point machines, a large sum of cash that was withdrawn from the victim’s bank account, and two firearms are among the items that have been seized and recovered from the kidnappers. Including a firearm stolen during a house robbery in Linden in 2023.”

Mathe emphasised the importance of community vigilance and encouraged residents to report suspicious activities in their neighbourhoods to help combat crime.

Abductions Targeting Business Owners In South Africa

There has been a worrying trend of kidnapping syndicates targeting business people for ransom in Mzansi.

SA National Commissioner of Police, General Fannie Masemola, revealed that from January, 13 businessmen and at least six students were kidnapped. The police rescued all of them without their families paying a ransom. General Masemola added that over 54 kidnappers operating in Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga, and the Free State have been arrested since January.

However, one Zimbabwean businessman was unlucky.

In March this year, armed men abducted Evans Katumba in Durban. His family and friends paid R1.5 million of the R2.5 million the kidnappers demanded. However, the abductors did not release the Zimbabwean businessman.

KwaZulu-Natal police found Katumba’s dead body in April with two gunshot wounds. It had reached an advanced stage of decomposition, so much so that investigators had to conduct DNA tests on his family to identify him.

ALSO READ: Dead Body Suspected to Be That of Kidnapped Zimbabwean Businessman Evans Katumba Found in Hammersdale, South Africa

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