AK-47 seized as four held over planned ATM bombing in Limpopo

Four men were arrested and an AK-47 assault rifle seized in the early hours of Saturday after police moved on intelligence that a group was preparing to bomb ATMs in the Zebediela area of Limpopo. Sunday World reported the operation on 25 October.

The men, aged 28, 30, 46 and 50, were stopped in a silver Toyota Starlet on the R568 road in the Vaalbank area. Police say the group spotted the operational team and tried to flee, setting off a pursuit before the car was intercepted.

A search of the vehicle turned up the AK-47, two rifle magazines, 36 rounds of live ammunition and four cellphones. The car was seized as part of the investigation.

The operation drew on intelligence that the group also had illegal firearms and explosives, according to police. It was carried out by a multidisciplinary team that included the SAPS National Intervention Unit, Crime Intelligence and specialised investigation units, working with private security partners Fidelity, Vusela Risk Services, FNB PCM, Absa Investigations and Safeguard Risk Services.

The four are expected to appear in court soon on charges likely to include the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Police say investigations are continuing to establish whether they can be linked to other serious crimes, including ATM bombings, cash-in-transit heists and business robberies. Further arrests have not been ruled out.

For people in Zebediela and along the R568, the case speaks to a crime pattern that reaches well beyond a single vehicle stop. ATM bombings and cash-in-transit robberies are violent, heavily armed operations, and the recovery of a rifle of this kind before an alleged attack is the outcome police are describing as the point of the exercise.

The arrests are the latest in a run of operations targeting organised syndicates behind explosive-related robberies across the country. What remains open is whether this group is connected to those networks or was working on its own. Police have not said, and the court process will be the first public test of the case against the four men.